Grounded Strategy
Grounded Strategy was the methodology developed as part of this initiative
Grounded strategy - Outline of methodology
The initial phase of this project was to identify or create a methodology which would enable teaching and learning to be improved in East Lothian . The fundamental premise upon which this strategy has been built is that many generic initiatives aimed at changing/developing teachers' practice have not had the desired impact upon the profession . Consequently, there was a need to devise an alternative approach which had, at its core, a focus upon the transformation of practice.
The fundamental perception of most teachers when considering the problem of initiative failure is that these initiatives start from a point of where people are expected to get to as opposed to where they actually are . The selected strategy, hereafter referred to as grounded strategy, adopts an alternative approach in that it is fundamentally grounded upon to attitudes, perceptions, knowledge and day-to-day reality of practitioners . By grounding the initiative in reality the belief is that the likelihood of substantial change in the future is greatly increased.
The initial phase of the project was therefore to interview 30 key individuals within East Lothian , using a common set of 22 questions. (see interview questions) Interviews took up to 2 hours to complete and detailed notes were taken. These notes were then analysed using mind-mapping software. In this way it was possible to enable common themes to emerge from the data.
A key strength of this approach is that an attempt is made to make sense of peoples' world using their own words . In this way, there is a much greater likelihood that people will understand the concepts emerging from the grounded strategy as opposed to something which has been merely translated from a theoretical perspective (it is important to recognise that much of what people think and say may have been formed by existing educational theories but that their source has been long forgotten).
The second stage of the grounded strategy approach is to devise an emergent theory of how practice can be influenced. Following on from the emergent theory is anattempt to identify a statement of intent for the next five years, key actions and questions emerging from that statement of intent and lastly, an action strategy, known as the engine room approach, which translates intentions into practice .
Download PDF version of this page