RECOUP/Semi-structured interviews/Activity sheet 2/handout

Activity sheet: The experience of 'doing' and 'being' interviewed

Introduction

I'm from the XYZ social research group and we are carrying out a study for the Ministry of Education about how people feel about the teaching they received when they were at school, and what strategies they used to make sure they could learn as effectively as possible. Findings from the project will help the Ministry in developing its teacher training programmes. Your answers will be kept anonymous but we may quote some of the things you tell us in some of our reports, without attributing them to you. Please do let me know if you want more details about this project or have any other doubts which I might not have addressed.

Overarching themes	Questions	Possible Probes (follow up questions)
Schooling Background	Please can you tell me a little about your own schooling?	at which age did you start school? any significant gaps because of illness, or other reasons
Can you tell me which schools you attended, from your first school to the last one you attended?	which one did you like most? why was that?
About teaching and learning	If you think about your teachers, what were the main differences in the ways in which they taught?	maintaining discipline? giving rewards? encouraging participation in class? any differences in styles as you got older?
What do you think are the main strengths of teachers in this country?	Type of differences: between male and female teachers? between junior and secondary schools? between government and private schools?
Perceptions towards teachers	What do you think are the main challenges faced by teachers in this country?	Type of differences: between male and female teachers? between junior and secondary schools? between government and private schools?
Of all the teachers who taught you, who was your favourite? Could you use three words to describe this teacher	why was that? what impact did this have on your learning?
Perceptions towards type of change required	Based on your personal experience, do you think the government should make any changes to how teaching is carried out in this country?	type of training offered evaluation of the teaching profession

End the interview by thanking the interviewee and asking them if they wish to add any additional information and/or if they have any queries.

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Singal, N., and Jeffery, R. (2008). Qualitative Research Skills Workshop: A Facilitator's Reference Manual, http://oer.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/RECOUP, Cambridge: RECOUP (Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty, http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. (original page)