According to Bryman, sampling refers to the units selected for inquiry in a study (2012, p.
416). He also argues that the most commonly used sampling method in qualitative research is purposive sampling, a non-probability sampling approach where the type of units selected is closely related to the nature of the research questions in a study. The research questions often point out both levels of sampling: the context, or the cases, and the participants. In this research, the issue of quality education was investigated in the context of secondary schools in Tanga City, where the main participants of the study were teachers. Thus, purposive sampling was conducted along these guidelines, deriving from the research questions. However, it is important to note that this having been a non-probability sampling approach, it did not allow me, as the researcher, to produce generalizable findings regarding the whole population (Bryman, 2012). Nevertheless, it fit the purpose of the research and proved to be a good method for deepening the understanding of the social phenomena as a whole.
Following the multiple-case study design, the original intention was to select two urban secondary schools in Tanga City for deeper inquiry: one private and one public school to shed light on different aspects of teachers’ perception and experiences under different physical and economic conditions. However, as is explained later, in the early phase of the fieldwork another private school was added to the sample as the third case for this study.
When selecting the schools for inquiry, the originally planned sampling criteria were mainly to select two typical schools. These samples were intended to be typical cases that “exemplify the dimensions of interest” (Bryman, 2012, p. 419), in this case a typical private and a typical
5 More information about HAMA at https://steps4development.wordpress.com/hama/ (retrieved 12.05.2017)
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or average government secondary school. The two schools had to be similar in size and academic performance for comparability. Furthermore, in order to examine how teachers’
training had formed teachers’ perception of quality, there had to be teachers at each school who finished their teacher training recently in addition to teachers who have many years of experience.
Upon arrival in the study area, selecting the schools was done with the assistance of the Tanga City Secondary Education Officer at the TCC and an educational expert from HAMA. With the previously planned sampling criteria in mind, seven schools that could be appropriate for the purpose of the research were identified and proposed by the educational expert from HAMA, which was then approved by the Education Officer. Out of seven listed schools, four were government schools and three were private schools. Subsequently, a letter of introduction was sent by the Education Officer to all the seven secondary schools at which I was granted permission to do research. I then had the opportunity to visit each of the listed schools personally with my local coordinator and select two of these for deeper inquiry based on the previous sampling criteria.
However, the sampling criteria were slightly revised once all schools have been visited. First of all, the private schools had much fewer enrolled students than the government schools. The three selected private schools had approximately 250 students each, whereas the four government schools had about 900–1,250 students each. Thus, it became clear that it was not possible to choose two schools with similar sizes.
Secondly, when it came to performance, it proved to be difficult to choose two schools with similar performance from the private and the government sectors. When visiting all seven schools, it turned out that both private and government schools could be divided into two sub-categories. The sub-categories among public schools were (1) better performing government schools that are selecting the better performing students from all districts and (2) average or lower performing government schools that are taking the rest of the students mostly from the given ward (shule za kata). The sub-categories among private schools were (1) well-performing and expensive private boarding schools that only select the best students and (2) lower performing and cheaper private schools that enrol students who were not admitted to other better-performing private or government schools but did not wish to go to the lower performing secondary schools. Thus, it became clear that whichever schools were selected,
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there would be limited possibilities for comparison, since all schools in these categories were different.
Thirdly, in order to examine the impact of teachers’ training on the perception of quality education, it was an important criterion to choose schools where they employ younger teachers as well those who have recently finished their teacher education. Thus, those schools that did not employ newly educated teachers had to be excluded from the list, like one of the private schools out of the three visited.
In addition to the previously planned three sampling criteria and due to practical reasons, I added two more selection criteria upon starting fieldwork. Since the design of the research included a great deal of participant observation and elements of ethnographic research, it was essential for me to select two schools where the leadership of the school seemed positive and supportive of my research and the methodologies chosen, including giving me the chance to become engaged in teaching activities as part of the intended data collection methods. This was also the reason why visiting all seven schools personally and meeting the heads of schools at the beginning played an important role in selecting the right schools for the purpose of the research. The other practical reason behind the selection of samples was linked to the location of the schools and personal safety. I needed to choose two schools where there were good transport opportunities to reach the schools alone safely during the six months of the fieldwork, which was an important aspect for me being a young female researcher from Europe.
After evaluating the seven listed schools according to the previously mentioned criteria, I chose a private school and a government school for deeper inquiry. The selected schools were similar in performance, both having low performance compared to other secondary schools in Tanga City. These schools were closer to each other in size, meaning that the private school was among the bigger ones with around 250 students and the government school was among the smaller ones with about 870 students. Both schools employed young teachers who had finished their teacher training recently. The two selected schools also fit the two practical criteria having a cooperative leadership and being easily approachable by both public and private means of transport.
However, once starting fieldwork and getting to know these schools, it became clear that the private secondary school chosen, being only a day-school, could hardly represent a typical
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private school as most of the private schools were boarding schools where the teaching and learning environment is different. Thus, another private school, a well-performing boarding school was added to the sample as the third case for this study in order to obtain insight into the other sub-category of private schools, hence enriching the understanding of quality in education. When it comes to government schools, the difference in the teaching and learning environments between the better and the poorer performing schools were less substantial.
Therefore, a well-performing government school was not added as a forth case, also due to the limitations of this study. However, a triangulation strategy was set up to obtain a better picture of that sub-category as well.
The main interest of this study was to explore teachers’ views on quality education, thus the key participants of the research were teachers. The key sample size was 15 units, as five teachers were interviewed and observed in all three schools. Teachers were chosen according to their qualification (whether they had a diploma or degree (BA or MA) level of education) and how long it has been since they completed their teacher training. The key aspect was to select at least two teachers at each school who had graduated from either TTC or university within the past three years. At each school, both diploma- and degree-level teachers were selected in the sample with a good balance, at least two of each category out of the five units.
Furthermore, both male and female teachers were selected at all schools, except from the private boarding school, where all teachers employed in the school were male.
Participant observation and systematic classroom observations were carried out by following the five key informants at each school. My participant role during observations was both passive, when observing lessons, and active, when engaging in discussion during different activities in school. Observations were generally also extended to other teachers and students and the school as a whole.
In addition to teachers, students were also interviewed at each school to assess their reflections about quality education in their own schools. At each school, focus group interviews were carried out with a group of 4–8 students in order to explore their views on quality and their teachers’ teaching practices. The students were selected according to academic performance, gender, availability and English proficiency.
In addition to the five selected teachers as key informants, the academic master, director or head of each school was interviewed. Interviews with 1–3 parents at each school were also
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carried out in order to triangulate the data. Originally, the sample size was two units at each school and the selection criteria regarding parents were planned to be according to their children’s academic performance. However, due to lack of availability, I was only able to interview one, two and three parents in the three schools respectively, namely those who were available and interested in participating in the study.
Furthermore, visits to two other well-performing government secondary schools in Tanga City were made to obtain insight into the other sub-category of government schools and to explore the wider context of the three selected cases. Here, two teachers were interviewed, a younger one who finished his or her teacher training within the past three years and a more experienced teacher. In addition, the head of the school or the academic master and a group of students were also interviewed for triangulation purposes, with a sample unit of three adults and a group of students at each of the two control schools altogether. Examining the issue of quality from different perspectives in different contexts was aimed at enhancing the trustworthiness of the research. Finally, the Tanga City Secondary Education Officer was also interviewed on issues of quality education.