Projecting student voice by constructing grounded theory
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Projecting student voice by constructing grounded theory Olivia Johnston1 · Helen Wildy1 · Jennifer Shand1 Received: 14 January 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020 © The Australian Association for Research in Education, Inc. 2020
Abstract Research methods that prioritise student experiences give students a voice and can provide new insights into how teachers’ efforts are experienced by those who receive them—their students. Grounded theory methods can be used to create theory with students to project their voices through a research process that is explained and exemplified in this paper. The process described in this paper was applied to generate grounded theory about secondary school students’ experiences with their teachers’ achievement expectations in the classroom including the data collection, analysis and synthesis methods that draw on classic grounded theory. A substantive group of secondary school students was shadowed across their classes, then interviewed after the observations about their interactions with their teachers that communicated expectations. The main findings of students’ desire to experience trust from their educators are outlined in this article. The research process used provides a model for researchers who want to construct grounded theory with students to create new understandings together. Despite entanglement with issues surrounding power and authenticity, the development of methods for conveying student voice has many benefits, including improving student educational outcomes and fulfilling their human rights. Keywords Student voice · Teacher expectations · Grounded theory · Qualitative
Introduction Students have insights about how their educational experiences affect their academic outcomes, and there is much to be gained by conducting educational research that gives voice to students’ experiences, from their points of view. There is an increasing amount of discussion and research about student voice (Cook-Sather 2018; Rudduck 2007), reflecting the international commitment to gaining the participation of students in matters that affect them as ratified by Australia (1990) in international * Olivia Johnston [email protected] 1
Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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law – Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989). New research methods explore how students can be co-researchers and active participants in educational research, rather than merely sources of data (Fielding 2004; Groundwater-Smith and Mockler 2016; Mitra 2018). Yet educational research is still conducted by, and disproportionality reflects, the perspectives of those who deliver education over those who receive it. The adult-centric world of research is disconnected from the lives of students in classrooms (Beazley et al. 2009; Rubin 2003). There is scope for research that describes students’ experiences from their points of view, including secondary school student
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