Qualitative Multi-case Study Research Articles

Development of Preliteracy in Preschool Education in the Czech Republic

The level of reading competency in children makes a difference in their academic progress, and subsequently such progress influences their quality of life. The excellence of pre-primary education is based on curricular and procedural quality. The aim of the research was to find out how preschool teachers develop reading literacy in preschool children in the Czech Republic and how they understand the concept of preliteracy. Data were collected using a qualitative multi-case study by semi-structured interviews with participants, repeated semi-structured observations of their teaching work, and analysis of reports of teaching implementation (N = 8). The results show that teachers have insufficient knowledge about the content of literacy development. In practice, they tend to focus on the development of areas related to the acquisition of reading and writing, while the area of comprehension development is inadequately covered. Findings can contribute to improve curricula on national or institutional level, not only in the Czech Republic but also internationally.

Adapting the English Language Teaching Curriculum to Overcome Resource Limitations in Rural Areas

This research explores the adaptation of the English Language Teaching (ELT) curriculum to address the significant resource limitations faced in rural areas, specifically in Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia. The study aims to investigate how teachers creatively modify lesson plans, instructional methods, and assessment strategies in environments lacking essential resources, such as teaching materials, technological tools, and professional development opportunities and the impact on the students’ outcomes. Using a qualitative multi-case study approach, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis over a two-month period. The findings reveal that teachers employed various strategies to cope with resource constraints, such as simplifying lesson content, utilizing locally available materials, and incorporating peer collaboration in the classroom. These adaptations resulted in enhanced student participation and improvements in oral communication skills. However, significant challenges were observed in fostering literacy, particularly reading and writing skills, due to the scarcity of instructional resources and limited teacher training. Moreover, while short-term engagement and speaking proficiency increased, the long-term impacts on overall English proficiency remained limited. The study underscores the need for comprehensive professional development for rural teachers and better access to teaching materials to fully bridge the educational gap between urban and rural students. Ultimately, these findings offer valuable insights for future curriculum development aimed at improving language education in resource-limited settings.

Farmer Assessment of the Effectiveness of Empowerment Strategies to Increase Farming Profits

Farmer empowerment is crucial for agricultural development, yet its effectiveness often depends on how well strategies align with farmers' needs. This research aims to determine the effectiveness of the farmer empowerment strategies according to the farmer assessment. The research employs a qualitative multi-case study approach, utilizing in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with farmer group chairmen and members. The study reveals varying levels of effectiveness across seven government-implemented empowerment strategies. These three strategies comprised developing agricultural product marketing systems, consolidating agricultural land, and providing access to science and technology were unfamiliar to participants. The organic fertilizer training strategy was deemed effective in improving competence and profits. Extension services were considered effective in enhancing competence, profits, and productivity. However, institutional strengthening strategies were seen as ineffective in developing farmer groups into cooperatives. Financing facilities through People's Business Credit (PBC).

Pre-service teachers’ world history discussions: Distancing global citizenship, justice, and identity

In this qualitative multi-case study, we illustrate how three pre-service teachers from varying programs and social positions framed discussions in world history classrooms, and we discuss the broader narratives about the world their discussions communicated. Using critical theories of global citizenship education (GCE) and the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI), three primary data sources inform our analysis: observations of participants’ discussions, decision memos written while reflecting on their discussion facilitation, and semi-structured interviews. The three participants prioritized making discussion content relevant to their students. However, their facilitation practice ultimately contradicted such aims by favoring dominant and distancing global narratives, though this tendency went unacknowledged in interviews and while writing reflective memos. Our DSMRI cross-case analysis reveals how candidates’ role identities manifested in classroom discourse, with ontological and epistemological beliefs reliant on dominant global narratives. Despite varied personal experiences offering potential strengths for critical GCE teaching, participants’ self-perceived limited world history content knowledge appeared to condition their distanced and power-neutral facilitation approaches. By unconsciously relying on dominant narratives, teachers’ discussion facilitation positioned global issues firmly in the past and distant from students’ lived experiences and agency.

‘Round outside and square inside’: language teachers’ emotion regulation strategies in crosscultural teaching contexts

ABSTRACT With the expansion of transnational language learning and teaching, chances have increased for language teachers to work in crosscultural teaching contexts and regulate their emotions in the face of crosscultural emotional challenges. This study investigated the emotion regulation strategies employed by language teachers in crosscultural teaching contexts. Through a qualitative multi-case study with six Chinese as a second language (CSL) teachers in China, data collected from semi-structured interviews, class observations, and teacher reflective journals revealed seven emotion regulation strategies of three categories: restraining and pretending of surface acting; reframing, reconcentrating, and repositioning of deep acting; releasing and relieving of genuine expressing. These three categories reflected language teachers’ three experiences to cultural differences: deliberate minimisation, reflective acceptance, and communicative adaptation. The identified emotion regulation strategies also revealed two paradoxes existing in teacher-student interactions in crosscultural language teaching, which can be summarised as the Chinese idiom ‘round outside and square inside’. The study also proposed practical implications for language teachers’ emotion regulation and offered suggestions for institutions concerning teacher emotion in crosscultural teaching contexts.

Social Adjustment to College: The Case of Social Studies Freshmen

Transitioning to college presents significant social challenges for freshman social studies students, including social anxiety and isolation. It also reveals various coping mechanisms, such as selective socialization and the crucial role of being socially adjusted in a college environment. This qualitative multi-case study, conducted at a State University and College in Leyte Province, explores the social adjustment experiences of three social studies freshmen. Using purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews, the study analyzes three key themes through Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The findings emphasize the importance of building trust, seeking support, and engaging in extracurricular activities to enhance social integration. This research is a testament to diverse learners with different college situations, and through this research, it can bridge the gap between socially struggling freshmen and supportive college environments. This research provides valuable insights for improving support systems in tertiary education and improving students' personal growth, academic success, and overall well-being.

Model of Students' Prophetic Character Building of Madrasah Aliyah in Responding to Global Sociocultural Change Era

This study aims to uncover and formulate a conceptual model, implementation strategy, and impact assessment of building prophetic character in students to address sociocultural changes in the global era. Using a qualitative multi-case study design, research was conducted at Madrasah Aliyah Swasta (MAS) Al-Ittifaqiah 2 Ogan Ilir and Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN) 3 Palembang. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and documentation. Findings reveal that the vision is based on four pillars—the Qur'an and Hadith, culture, Pancasila, and government—while addressing consumer needs and anticipating sociocultural changes. This vision incorporates values of humanization, liberation, and transcendence, aiming to create "Ulama-intellectuals and intellectuals-Ulama." The model is executed through four pathways: formal education (KBM PAI) to establish an understanding of prophetic values, school-boarding culture to practice these values habitually and build discipline, extracurricular activities to stimulate the internal application of prophetic values, and family and environment to provide external control and reinforcement. Internal and external sociocultural factors act as both supporting and inhibiting instruments. The program fosters individual and social transformation, increasing participation in religious, environmental, and social activities. It also enhances the Madrasah's image as a holistic institution, addresses sociocultural anomalies, and promotes the prophetic paradigm, resulting in a resilient and adaptable prophetic character framework suitable for the global era. The study introduces the Interconnected-Prophetic Elaboration to Sociocultural Change (I-PESC) model, which effectively builds prophetic character, balancing spiritual and social dimensions while promoting unity and moderation. Future research should incorporate field studies to validate these findings and provide more robust evidence.

Social Constructivism in Learning Islamic Religious Education in State Senior High Schools in Palu City, Indonesia

This study explores the perspectives and implementation of social constructivism in the context of Islamic Education learning in State Senior High Schools in Palu City. The research method applied is a qualitative multi-case study. Data was gathered through direct observation, in-depth interviews, and written document analysis. Interviews involve two school principals and fifteen Islamic education teachers from two State Senior High Schools. The data was then analyzed using thematic analysis. This study found that the paradigm of the school principals demonstrates an understanding and support that needs improvement to delve into and precisely support the theory of social constructivism in the teaching of Islamic religious education. Nonetheless, the school principals also exhibit awareness of the significance of applying the principles of social constructivism in the context of Islamic education. In both schools, the teachers still need to understand social constructivism thoroughly. The teaching practices still rely on lecture methods as the primary approach, leading to the teacher's role primarily focused on imparting information, with collaborative learning implemented as question-and-answer sessions and group discussions. Limitations in assigning collaborative tasks and projects result in the potential for developing the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) among students, which needs to be fully optimized. The concept of scaffolding is only provided to students who inquire; thus, the principles of social constructivism in learning still need to be fully optimized. This study concluded that academics have the opportunity to enrich their knowledge, education practitioners can improve teaching skills, and policymakers can design more effective educational strategies and programs. Joint efforts are needed to enhance the understanding and implementation of social constructivism in Islamic Education learning in State Senior High Schools in Palu City.

Status of Instructional Leadership Practices in Botswana's Public Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Case of Brigades

This qualitative multi-case study explores instructional leadership practices at Botswana's brigades, a key provider of semi-skilled Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes. This study investigated the perspectives of instructional leaders and lecturers at two institutions in the Southern District to understand their experiences with leadership practices. Drawing on Hallinger and Murphy's (1985) framework, this research examines how instructional leadership unfolds within brigades, focusing on defining the mission, managing curriculum and instruction, and fostering a positive learning environment. Furthermore, it explores the collaborative practices of the leadership team, including principals, deputy principals, and department heads. The findings reveal a general understanding of instructional leadership among participants, with some evidence of practices, such as curriculum management and stakeholder involvement. However, concerns have been raised regarding communication gaps, limited shared leadership, and ineffective evaluation. The study also identified essential competencies for instructional leaders, including communication, planning, and resource management. Key challenges include information overload, resource shortage, and staff training gaps. The participants suggested strategies for improvement, emphasizing streamlined expectations, consistent monitoring, leadership development, and adequate resourcing. Overall, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of instructional leadership in Botswana's TVET sector and provides insights for enhancing programme quality and graduate employability.

Instructional design students’ design judgment development

This qualitative multi-case study explores the exercise and development of the design judgment of eight instructional design (ID) students working on design projects over one semester in graduate programs at four different institutions in the USA. Their design processes were explored through interviews and their design documents using the concepts of design judgment as reported by Nelson and Stolterman (The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2012) and reflection-in-action as reported by Schön (The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action, Basic Books, New York, 1983) to characterize the exercise and development of their design judgment across the semester. Findings reveal that these ID students make multiple design judgments concurrently and constantly. Their prior design experience, the course requirements and their design practice in class influence both the exercise and development of their design judgment. Lastly, the development of their design judgment is both perceptible and personal. In light of these findings, recommendations are made for how to support the development of ID students’ design judgment.

We Should Know Everything Shouldn’t We?: Children of Soldiers on What and How War Should Be Taught

Taken from a larger qualitative multi-case study, this article centers the voices of high school students who are from military affiliated families and how they want war to be taught to them. Using heritage history and difficult knowledge as theoretical frames, this article argues that military affiliated students seek a more robust teaching of war. Students demonstrated an interest in developing a deeper understanding of the community in which they live. Students requested a pedagogy that was inquiry and discussion based with teachers not telling them what or how to think about war, a curriculum that was thematic in nature, teaching that was connected to the present, and teaching that was mindful of the personal connections students had to the subject of war through their family.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in large manufacturing firms: a qualitative multi-case study from Ethiopia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in large manufacturing firms: a qualitative multi-case study from Ethiopia

Exploring teachers’ experiences within the teacher evaluation process: A qualitative multi-case study

Exploring teachers’ experiences within the teacher evaluation process: A qualitative multi-case study

Managerial coaches' enacted behaviors and the beliefs that guide them: perspectives from managers and their coachees.

Managerial coaching is considered a powerful developmental intervention in the workplace that has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. A growing base of scholarship examining the efficacy of this form of coaching has identified numerous benefits, primarily for employees receiving this form of coaching, and some limited attention has focused on benefits for managers who coach. However, an important topic related to managerial coaching that has gone under-explored is the beliefs that managers have about coaching. Since beliefs often guide behaviors, obtaining a more robust understanding of the beliefs that guide managers who serve as coaches is warranted and several scholars have called for more research on this aspect of managerial coaching. Therefore, the study reported here presents a subset of findings that relate to the coaching behaviors that managers enact along with a comprehensive understanding of their guiding beliefs. These specific findings are drawn from a larger qualitative multi-case study employing an adaptation of the critical incident technique that was designed to examine the beliefs, behaviors, and learning and development outcomes for both managers who coach and their respective coachees. This larger study obtained perspectives about these aspects of managerial coaching from both the coaches and coachees which also reflects an approach seldom taken when researching managerial coaching. Four research questions are addressed here: 1) What are the behaviors enacted by managers who coach (facilitate the learning of) their employees from the perspective of managers; 2), what are the behaviors enacted by managers who coach (facilitate the learning of) their employees from the perspective of employees; 3) What are the beliefs held by managers who coach (facilitate the learning of) their employees from the perspective of managers; and, 4) What are the beliefs held by managers who coach (facilitate the learning of) their employees from the perspective of their employees (coachees)? In addition to thick rich descriptions that illustrate these findings, implications for theory, research, and practice are also discussed.

Enactment of English medium instruction in under-resourced educational contexts: A case of multilingual public secondary schools in Nepal

English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy has shown substantial growth in all levels of education, driven by diverse aspirations such as raising individuals’ global competitiveness and internationalization of education. Such a growth of EMI has been questioned from equity perspective. However, they largely draw on perception-based evidence, and do not capture exactly why and how the EMI has arisen and been practiced at the school and classroom levels, against the official, multilingual policy. This paper explores the practiced EMI policy through a qualitative multi-case study, involving in-depth interviews, focus groups and classroom observations in three Nepalese public secondary schools. The data were analysed thematically drawing on the theory of policy enactment and translanguaging. Findings showed that schools consciously chose EMI in full or part for practical reasons (e.g., career prospect) opening some equity-related issues, but teachers and students commonly adopted translanguaging strategies to deal with language and content-related problems and to level the ground for students with limited English proficiency. The findings ask critical language policy researchers to seriously consider the context in theorising equitable language policy. Practical measures to increase educational equity, such as legitimising the use of community languages in class, are also proposed.

The ‘professional digital competence’: Exploring the perspective of primary music teachers in Spain

The terms ‘Digital competence’ or ‘Professional digital competence’ are frequently used, yet their understanding remains varied and elusive. Moreover, existing research in education heavily focuses on the study of digital competence among students, with comparatively limited attention given to teachers. In this study, we aim to investigate primary music teachers’ perspectives on ‘professional digital competence’ in Spain. This entails understanding their conceptualizations on (1) the term itself, (2) the cultivation of related skills and (3) its practical application with students. Additionally, we seek to compare primary music teachers’ viewpoints with those of teachers from other subjects. Through a qualitative multi-case study involving purposeful sampling of 20 participants, the results suggest that our music teachers, regardless of their self-stated technological skills, possess a limited understanding of the ‘professional digital competence’ and express negative or pessimistic beliefs towards its development and implementation. Furthermore, they feel compelled to use educational technology despite their reservations. Our findings similarly indicate that their beliefs are not meaningfully different from those of non-music teachers in the same context. In discussing the implications, we suggest that these beliefs may lead to stress and anxiety among participants, necessitating support from educational administrators. Additionally, we propose that future research should further investigate both why and how our participants feel/are pressured to use technology, and the particular disadvantages of technology in music education identified in our analysis of their beliefs.

STEM Teachers’ Private Theories and Their Learning Design in International Schools in Hong Kong

This paper reports on the study of private theories of Science, Technology, Engineering and Technology (“STEM”) teachers and their learning design practices at International Schools in Hong Kong. The literature emphasises that teachers are the key to successfully implementing STEM education. However, most are unprepared and ill-equipped for the task of preparing students for a sound STEM education. Teachers’ thinking is critical for their learning design, decision-making and implementation of STEM. This decision-making is underpinned by a set of private theories. Using the methodology of a qualitative multi-case study, this research focuses on five participants teaching STEM in International Schools in Hong Kong. The private theories of the cases were identified and observed for any change with the use of a learning design model for STEM education. The learning design is introduced using a novel methodology of intervention. An observable change occurs in the majority of cases after the intervention, however certain private theories remained an obstacle to the effective implementation of STEM education. To overcome the remaining private theories in effective implementation of STEM education, the study proposes a novel framework incorporating both learning design and collaboration to mediate teachers’ thinking in the context of STEM learning design.

Expanding the Reasons We Give: Black Parents’ Collective Engagement as Resisting White Supremacy at School

In this article, Jennifer L. McCarthy Foubert draws attention to Black parents’ collective school engagement. Applying critical race theory’s critique of liberalism as a theoretical frame, she argues that Black parents who participated in her qualitative multicase study resisted white supremacy as they engaged for the collective in everyday school involvement, school and extracurricular choices, and parent groups. She concludes by urging family-school partnership scholars, policy makers, and school leader and teacher educators to embrace collective engagement for its contributions to educational justice.

Implementation of Gender and Ecology Mainstreaming Policies at Sekolah Penggerak and Eco Green Schools in Surabaya: Ecofeminism Study

This research aims to discuss the implementation of gender and ecology mainstreaming policies in Sekolah penggerak in elementary schools and eco-green schools in Surabaya through an ecofeminist approach. This research uses a qualitative multi-case study approach, with the research subjects being four schools, namely SD Negeri 2 Benowo, SD Muhammadiyah 4 Surabaya, SD Al Khairiyah Surabaya, and SD Kristen Kalam Kudus Surabaya. The research results show that schools with the Adiwiyata or similar labels can better implement ecological awareness programs such as green and eco-green schools. They adopt programs such as hydroponics, recycling, and zero-waste healthy canteens and integrate them into the curriculum with relevant themes. Apart from that, these schools also apply the principles of gender-oriented, child-friendly schools. This research examines how gender mainstreaming and ecology are practised in schools. Both in the form of policies, learning design and related infrastructure. The results of this research illustrate that although there has been progress in implementing gender mainstreaming and ecology policies in schools, further efforts are still needed to increase students' understanding and awareness of these issues. In some aspects, gender and ecological approaches still seem symbolic and insubstantial.

The business family as an institutional arbitrageur: Internationalization across institutional contexts

Much research on family business internationalization centers on the firm but is inattentive to the family behind the firm. We examine how business families internationalize from unstable and fragile institutions. Based on a qualitative multi-case study, we theorize business families as institutional arbitrageurs who facilitate international transactions between incompatible institutional contexts to create and preserve value in international markets while adapting to the unstable and fragile home institutional environment. Our findings suggest a three-stage internationalization process representing a cumulative and varied pattern of arbitrage practices at the level of the enterprise, extended family, and individual family members. Thus, we theorize the unique aspects of the family as a hypermobile international structure with international interests, relationships, and presence. Our findings also highlight the role of individual family members during internationalization. Our study contributes to the literature on business family internationalization and institutional arbitrage.