Kelly Burt EDUC 867 Saturday February 6 2010

Kelly Burt EDUC 867 Saturday, February 6, 2010

My study & the methodological fit I don’t aim to generalize; rather, I am seeking an extension of experience. “I see myself here. ” Talking to teachers will help facilitate my understanding of the issues in my question; I need to talk to people “living the case” (Stake, 2005, p. 445). CASE STUDY My question is issue oriented: positionality. I want to see how the phenomena of positioning and identity work occur in several exemplars and I want to get different perceptions of these phenomena. I seek to examine how theories are reflected in the case.

Case study methodology Ø Case-study research objects are complex social situations with a large number of variables which cannot be controlled and cannot even be perceived and recognized in all their dimensions Ø Case-study research asks questions of ‘how’ ‘what’, and ‘why’ Ø Case studies follow the research philosophy of analyzing an existing, reallife situation in all its complexity, exploring it as close to the people concerned as possible Ø A case study is appropriate for the analysis of single phenomena against the backdrop of personal, historical and life historical aspects Ø The aim is to understand the meaning behind the actions and knowledge of the participants Kyburz-Graber (2004)

My research question üComplex social situation üAsks a how question • How are non-native speaker (NNS) French Immersion (FI) teachers positioned by and/or how do they position themselves with regards to the cultural component of FI teaching and learning? – How does the range of ways that NNS FI teacher negotiate this curriculum reveal the identity work of NNS FI teachers? – In what range of ways do NNS FI teachers negotiate the cultural curricular organizer, la composante langue et culture, in the Français langue seconde - Immersion curriculum? üSingle phenomenon üExisting, reallife situation

What’s my paradigm? Constructivist-Interpretive • Multiple realities exist • The truth is historically situated & socially constructed • Attempt to illuminate the sense that participants make of their experiences, including the meanings they assign to their interactions and actions. • Co-create shared understanding between researcher (Kelly) & participants (NNS FI teachers) Denzin & Lincoln, 2005 Stevenson, 2004

What methods? E I M C • The participants’ experience is what will help me get to the heart of my research – hence, interviews are my method, in order to understand the sense teachers make of their experiences, and… • To make sense of how teachers feel positioned by and/or how they position themselves with regards to the curriculum

My burning questions How can I attend to and/or reconcile the case’s story and my perception of the case? Mind the blind spot! How am I justifying my sampling strategy and what are the implications of my sampling?

References Denzin, N. K. , & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. , Eds. , The Sage handbook of qualitative research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Kyburz-Graber, R. (2004). Does case-study methodology lack rigour? The need for quality criteria for sound case-study research, as illustrated by a recent case in secondary and higher education. Environmental education research, 10(1). Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. , Eds. , The Sage handbook of qualitative research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Stevenson, R. B. (2004). Constructing knowledge of educational practices from case studies. Environmental education research, 10(1). Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.