Analysis procedures

Image 1

Analysis in phenomenography starts with reading and re-reading the interview transcripts in order to comprehend the whole, before creating the pool of meaning. The goal of the analysis is to create categories of description. In order to do this the researcher needs to understand the expressions in two contexts simultaneously: first within the interview where the expression belongs, but then also within the emergent theme where it gets placed during the analysis.

In the beginning it seemed that students were talking about compliance (or obedience), their rebellious acts in the classroom and regarding their choices to disengage, but also strong tendencies for delf-direction and interest in learning. After the initial triple Venn diagram (Image 1) it became obvious that the overlapping areas were important, so the themes began to emerge as in the picture on the left.

The first themes revolved around compliance/obedience as passive act of collowing the rules, criticism for school practices or instructional strategies, rebellion against punishments and missing real life connections, initiative and interest for learning, and agency as self-directed connection-seeking reflective learning.

Image 2

The second level of analysis displayed in Image 3 changed the themes into engagement strategies observed through the lens of students' awareness of their own learning.

Every student discussed in the interview what are features and practices that either help or hinder their personal learning.

From this awareness grew the picture in image 3 showing the outcom spaces of rebelling, belonging/owning and self-direction. After re-reding the interviews with these filters, it became evident that belonging and owning are two different themes, and that rebellion might actually be detachment.