2 Research methodology

This observational study is part of a larger research project that has included a literature review of literacy, numeracy and language teaching effectiveness (Benseman et al., 2005) and the mapping of current literacy, numeracy and language provision in New Zealand (Sutton, Lander, & Benseman, 2005). The methodology was therefore informed in the first instance by the findings of the major literature review and then the additional literature review reported above.

2.1 Research instruments

An initial observation schedule was designed based on Beder & Medina’s (2001) study (forwarded by the authors), the two literature reviews and our own experiences as literacy teachers. This schedule was designed to capture observations of the overall learning environment of the provider organisations, their teaching rooms, the instructional activities of the teacher, the teaching content and the interactions between learners and the teacher. All of these elements are important to some degree, but capturing them in their entirety is extremely difficult and beyond the resources of this present study. To do so, would require for example extended periods of observation, complete video transcripts and extensive micro-analysis. Nonetheless, we thought it was possible to record the main educational activities in a classroom with a reasonable degree of confidence and accuracy. As an exploratory study, the main intention was to provide a broad overview of how literacy, numeracy and language is taught in a cross-section of contexts and identify possible areas warranting further investigation in future research.

In order to record the above components of the teaching, we needed five main instruments:

1. a brief record of the provider and programme’s key characteristics
2. a means of classifying the various components in the teaching/learning situation and interactions
3. a means of recording observations of these components
4. an interview schedule to elicit input from the teacher and one for the learners
5. a means of accurately recording their input.

While we started with the Beder and Medina observation schedule, we decided that it did not cover all of the elements that we were interested in recording, especially in terms of the components of the teaching/learning situation and interactions. We therefore decided to include the following additional classification of activities:

• facilitative processes (e.g. revision of previous session, administrative procedures
• generic teaching methods that are common to any form of teaching (e.g. role plays, ‘roving and marking’)
• core components of reading, numeracy, writing, spelling and oracy (e.g. alphabetics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension for reading⁸)
• major skill components of the core components (e.g. scanning and skimming)
• the learner activities (e.g. reading aloud, cloze activities).

⁸ Based on the work of Kruidenier (2002).