The insider/outsider continuum when researching education

There are two ways of addressing the insider/outsider debate: as a continuum and as a dichotomy. It has been argued that whilst conducting research the researcher can find themselves at some point along a continuum of insiderness (Mercer, 2007). On one side is the complete insider: the person who understands the inner workings of what they are researching. On the polar opposite side there is the outsider: the researcher completely new to the field with no knowledge of the topic. However, can one truly be an outsider? Although I would describe myself as an outsider to French art, I still have an opinion or a vague idea of what I think about the topic. Similarly, can anyone be a true insider? Although one may think they know everything about the topic they are researching, they do not know what they do not know (Krunger and Dunning, 1999). Following this logic, I must agree with Mercer (2007) in that the researcher is located along a continuum of insider and outsiderness rather than the dichotomy representing the researcher as either an insider or outsider with no in between. Below is a visual representation I have created to show the continuum vs the dichotomy.

Continuum:

Dichotomy:

Mercer (2007, p.2) writes that the insider/outsider debate is under researched yet important to an "ever increasing number of educational researchers". Indeed, when I decided to enter the teaching profession, I thought the experience would be beneficial for my future career ambitions as an educational researcher; the idea of being more of an insider appealed to me. I had decided that being a secondary STEM teacher allowed me to be in the midst of education; this would help me better understand the institution as well as its current issues. On the continuum, I wanted to be located more on the insider side than I currently was. 

Of course, there are many critiques of researching one's own educational institution, Simmel (1950) argues that the insider can be easily influenced and "blinded" by the familiarity of the setting. In contrast, advocates for insider research actually argue the opposite: the insider is able to comprehend the setting through their expert knowledge of status, culture and power relations (Merton, 1972). Looking back to when I was an undergraduate I can see why we were told to research an institution that we were a part of. Obviously ease of access played a part, but thinking back it could be possible this was due to understanding the culture and group which would help first time researchers. For instance, Mercer (2007) writes that an advantage of insiderness is flexibility; during my undergraduate degree I interviewed two of my undergraduate housemates at around 11pm after watching Made in Chelsea. The insider also negates the disadvantage of the outsider as Parades (1977) and Zinn (1979) found that these researchers are likely to be presented with a distorted image; hello every school when the famous outsider Ofsted comes for a visit.

However, one of the disadvantages of being an insider is that colleagues’ "willingness to talk to you and what they say to you is influenced by who they think you are" (Drever, 1995). During my PGCE year, my then school mentor sent an email around the school asking if any colleagues would allow me to observe them. It could be seen that their idea of who I was and what I would observe influenced their decision to allow me into their classroom. It could be that those who agreed saw me as an inexperienced trainee teacher and they held epistemological power. This highlights the type of power relationship between the researcher and the researched which Mercer (2007) describes as a dimension of the insider/outsider continuum. Whilst observing colleagues I was located at differing parts of the continuum: I am an insider to the school policies and familiar pupils but an outsider to unknown pupils, possibly the subject I am observing and the teacher’s techniques (Olson, 1977; Mercer, 2007; Deutsch, 1981).  It will be interesting to see how these relationships change when I ask to observe colleagues for my masters. Will those who do not hold the qualification feel epistemologically challenged? Will those who hold a masters degree feel more powerful, allow me in their classroom and treat me as an insider?

References:

Deutsch, C. P. (1981) The behavioral scientist: insider and outsider, Journal of Social Issues, 37(2), 172–191.

Drever, E. (1995) Using semi-structured interviews in small-scale research (Edinburgh, The Scottish Council for Research in Education).

Kruger, Justin; Dunning, David (1999). "Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. American Psychological Association. 77 (6): 1121–1134

Mercer, J. (2007) The Challenges of Insider-Research in Educational Institutions: wielding a double-edged sword and resolving delicate dilemmas, Oxford Review of Education, 33(1), 1-17.

Merton, R. (1972) Insiders and outsiders; a chapter in the sociology of knowledge, American Journal of Sociology, 78 (July), 9–47.

Olson, D. H. (1977) Insiders’ and outsiders’ views of relationships: research studies, in: G. Levinger & H. L. Rausch (Eds) Close relationships: perspectives on the meaning of intimacy (Amhurst, University of Massachusettes Press).

Parades, A. (1977) On ethnographic work among minority groups: a folklorist’s perspective, New Scholar, 6, 1–53.

Simmel, G. (1950) The sociology of Georg Simmel (New York, Free Press).

Zinn, M. B. (1979) Field research in minority communities: ethical methodological and political observations by an insider, Social Problems, 27(2), 209–219

Recruiting teachers of Computer Science: schools losing the “best and brightest graduates” to corporations

As it is the first week of the school year, many new trainee teachers will be starting out in their future career. One of the things that brought them to teaching was recruitment. It is interesting to think about how recruitment differs within different sectors. Interestingly, my partner and I were discussing our days at work. He stated that a new Junior Software Developer had started and that he used to be a Chemistry teacher up until last academic year. He added that this teacher was well into his 30s and was evidently a “career changer”. This made me think about the state of recruitment of Computer Science teachers within the English state education system.

Jones starts the second chapter in his book, The Establishment (2015); retelling a conversation he had after an interview with a senior lobbyist for a banking company. He states his view on politician’s salary: Jones states that there is a case for reducing MP’s salaries as MP’s are “comfortably placed in the top 5% of earners” (2015, p. 46). This leads the lobbyist to argue that “such a move would deter the most talented people, particularly from the private sector, from entering politics”. This led me to think about the current recruitment context of teachers. In fact, doesn’t this argument resonate with all employment sectors? Don’t all employers wish to recruit “the most talented people”?

Indeed, the school I work at is aiming to recruit English, Math, Science and MFL teachers, a glance at the job advert shows that the salary is “competitive”. So why is there is shortage of teachers if schools are trying to attract the most talented people with these “competitive” salaries? Of course, I cannot provide a sweeping answer as this would be too generalised. But what I can do is speculate. I am currently employed as a Computer Science teacher whilst my partner, is employed as a Junior Software Developer. We’re both at the very beginnings of our careers having started our jobs at the same time. Although the subject knowledge required is relatively the same, the salary is not. My starting salary as a teacher is £10,000 less than my partner’s starting salary. Obviously financial reward is not, in isolation, the reason to enter a specific field of work but if we apply this senior lobbyist’s logic why is there not a similar recruitment incentive for teachers? Does our society not want “the most talented people” teaching our future generations?

The current financial incentives are clearly not enough, at the moment in order to attract the “best and brightest graduates” that could teach any subject within the English Baccalaureate are up to £30,000 tax free bursaries and scholarships. This clearly matches the starting salaries of some graduate jobs. But, what about after they have trained, will schools who employ the “Best and brightest graduates” be able to afford them as an NQT? Will those schools who are too poor to even afford a printing budget, be able to afford these “talented” classroom teachers? I have heard a lot of stories already from ex-classroom teachers who have found jobs in other sectors such as banking because their schools “could not afford them” as simply just classroom teachers without giving them more responsibility such as a middle/senior leader.  Although helpful, the financial incentive during the recruitment of teachers is not enough. If we want to recruit and keep, the “most talented people” as teachers, it is important to adopt a similar stance as the senior lobbyist within Jones (2015), more money needs to be put into the salary of classroom teachers.