Using grounded theory to understand teacher socialisation: A research experience

Abstract

Generating theory that is grounded in semi-structured interviews, field work observations, case study notes, or other forms of textual documentation has become a widely-used approach in social science research. The popularity of grounded theory stems from the opportunities it provides to describe a formal set of methods or procedures that guide a systematic approach at the various stages of the study -data development, its analysis and outcomes. In this paper, I reflect on my own experiences in using grounded theory in a study of six beginning teachers in Malawi. I use the preliminary findings from this study to illustrate and reflect on the processes of the initial work of open coding and the constant comparison of codes during the sifting, sorting and developing of categories. My aim is to show how .the reading of the research literature informed and helped in the decision-making during these processes. Finally, I present the theoretical framework that was developed from the study, and discuss what I le...