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Sociology: Methods in Context - Researching Teachers

This is a quiz based on Researching Teachers regarding the AQA A-Level Methods in Context topic in Sociology. Below are the words which need to be matched to their definitions: Mindset & Time Power & Status Impression Management
Quiz by billyn
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Last updated: October 14, 2023
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First submittedOctober 14, 2023
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Mindset & Time
Teachers often feel overworked and may be less than fully cooperative, even when they want to be helpful. This may mean that interviews and questionnaires tend to be kept short, and this will restrict the amount of data that can be gathered. Conversely, as professionals, teachers are likely to be sympathetic to educational research.
Power & Status
Power relationships in the school aren't equal. Teachers have more of this due to their age, experience and responsibility within the school. They also have legal responsibilities and a duty of care towards the young people they teach:
-The nature of the classrooms reinforces the power of the teacher - teachers often see it as 'my classroom', in which the researcher may be viewed as a trespasser.
-However, teachers are not fully independent, even in 'their' classroom. Heads, governors, parents and pupils all constrain what teachers may do.
-Researchers will need to develop a 'cover' if they intend to carry out covert investigations and this may mean representing themselves as a supply teacher or classroom assistant, for example. Although this gives researchers access, these groups have a lower status within school and other teachers may not treat them as equals.
Impression Management
Teachers are often used to being observed and scrutinised, for example in Ofsted inspections. As a result, they may well be more willing to be observed by a researcher since it is something they are accustomed to experiencing:
-However, as a major part of the teacher's role is to 'put on an act' for pupils and others, teachers are often highly skilled at what Erving Goffman (1969) calls 'impression management' - manipulating the impression that other people have of us.
-The researcher may therefore have to find ways to get behind the public face that teachers put on.
-Erving Goffman (1969) also analyses how, as social actors, we behave differently when we are acting out a role 'front stage' as opposed to when we are backstage. Some researchers study teachers in their backstage setting - usually the staffroom.
-However, getting backstage with teachers poses particular problems - the staffroom is a relatively small social space and, because teaching staff are generally known to each other, a newcomer will stand out and may be treated with some suspicion.
-Teachers will be aware that any critical comments they make about the school where they work could affect their career prospects. As a result, they may be reluctant to answer certain questions honestly.
-However, the researcher may be able to overcome this problem by using observational methods rather than methods that involve asking direct questions, such as interviews or questionnaires.
-Headteachers may try to influence which staff are selected to be involved in the research and these may not be fully representative of all teachers in the school. For example, a head may hand-pick teachers who will convey a favourable image of the school - another example of impression management.
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