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To answer these research questions, the present study employs qualitative case study to elicit information from the participants through semi-structured, stimulated-recall interviews, participant observation and document analysis. All the research methods used in this study are interconnected.
The major objective of this case study is to explore the ongoing formation process of three case teachers’ professional identity. The semi-structured and stimulatedrecall interview comprised four major aspects: 1) past learning experiences; 2) past classroom practice before attending the NTTP; 3) teachers’ experiences in diferent training modules in the NTTP; 4) teachers’ reflections on doing classroom-based teacher action research.
Yin (2014) defines three types of observation: non-participant, participant, and unobtrusive. Non-participant observation means merely watching what is happening and recording events on the spot (Patton, 1990). This study looks into teachers’identity development by using on-site and non-participant observation of participants’instructional practices such as teaching procedures, teacher-student interactions and classroom activities. The observation method is also conducted outside the classroom,and some teaching-related activities outside school are also observed, such as interactions between colleagues, and teachers’ discussions in the Teaching and Research Groups(hereafter TRGs) ( jiao yan zu ) [ 教研组 ] .
The classroom video allows the researcher to present complex classroom settings in an authentic way. According to Burns (1999), video recording is a technique for capturing in detail naturalistic interactions and verbatim utterances. The classroom video recording used in this study provides indispensable sources of reliable information on teachers’ past teaching practices. By observing the videotaped classroom, comparison can be made between teachers’ past and present instructional practices, which of ers the researcher an invaluable window to explore and apprehend teachers’ professional identity formation and negotiation.
Document analysis can complement other research instruments to obtain information that cannot be observed or interviewed directly (Merriam, 1998; Patton,1990). In this study, three types of documents are collected for analysis—textbooks,teachers’ lesson plans and official documents. The textbooks, including students’ books and teachers’ reference books, are the most fundamental documents of instructional material. The lesson plans normally represent teachers’ understanding of material,pedagogical strategies and implementation of beliefs. The lesson plans generally include teaching objectives (what the students are supposed to learn), how the objectives will be reached (the method, tasks or activities) and the way of measuring how well the objectives are reached (homework or test, etc.). The official documents provided the present study with another window to gain a holistic picture of educational settings and backgrounds of teacher development and curriculum reform.
In order to answer the research questions, the present study adopts a grounded approach to analyze the qualitative data. Interview transcriptions, observation notes, and classroom video data are analyzed through open, axial and selective coding techniques.In addition, different personal, professional and contextual factors are subsequently identified.
Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques are adopted by the present study in screening research participants. The choice of participants is purposeful (Merriam,1998; Patton, 1987; Stake, 1995) and the selection of three case teachers is also based on the following criteria: 1) teachers who can provide su ficient and valuable data for the study; 2) teachers who have experienced the NTTP and can provide data about the influence on their beliefs and practices; 3) teachers who are accessible and willing to provide information for the study. Based on the above considerations, the chosen teacher participants are supposed to provide rich information for the study. As a result, three qualified participant teachers, Jenifer, Amy and Kelvin (pseudonyms) were selected as focal participants for this study. The three teachers were all experienced teachers and “backbone teachers” ( gu gan jiao shi ) [ 骨干教师 ] in their schools who had been selected as trainees in the NTTP. The three teachers were well informed and aware of the research purpose and procedures of the present study and kindly agreed to participate and became the research participants of the study.