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CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The Two Cycles: Aims and Implementation
This section describes the details of the two cycles of research implemented.
Besides the territories investigated I also provide details of the groups
participating, the venue and any special circumstances of the research lessons
conducted within the cycle. One important detail to note is that although
I my research was based at a UK university, I conducted all the research
lessons in Hungary. While this does not impact on any of the central issues of
my research, it influenced details like adjusting the logistics of some lessons
to the Hungarian educational system, or considering Hungarian social issues
as the wider context of the drama lessons implemented. The lessons were
conducted in Hungarian, which is my mother tongue, and the data collected
was translated from Hungarian to English for analysis.
First cycle: The first cycle of the research investigated the questions: How
can Bondian concepts be used in planning and delivering LTD lessons? What
can they offer and what problems do they create?
I investigated these questions through three series of drama lessons. Each
series consisted of three lessons, so altogether nine lessons were implemented.
The participants of the lessons were full classes of third or fourth grade primary
school students, 9-11 year-old children. The lessons were conducted in school
time with the full informed approval of the school management, teachers,
parents or guardians and the participating students as well. The criteria
for selecting the groups was primarily logistical. Ten teachers reacted to
the Facebook post advertising the opportunity of participation in the research
lessons. The first three who received the school management’s approval and
could organise the group’s timetable to fit three two-hour lessons on three
successive weeks were chosen to participate in the research. The teachers
also conducted an informal survey of the parents of participants to probe
whether they would approve of the children participating in such a research.
The rationale behind this mode of selection was that smooth implementation
of the research needed teachers who are motivated to participate, and who
have a good rapport with the school’s management and parents, so the research
would not get obstructed because of miscommunication. The three groups
participating in the research were from different districts of Budapest.
I informed each group personally about all the details of the research and
informed the parents/guardians in detail with a two-page description of the
research. The participants and their parents/guardians all signed a consent
form to participate in the research.
As the first cycle of research was exploratory in nature it was important to
investigate different narratives, various structures and different possibilities
of creating DEs in LTD. These details of the cycle are shared as part of the
data analysis in the following chapter, as the findings of the research can