Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

(Walford 2001; Anderson 1999). With the focus ofthe present study on the nature of
teacher learning in a community ofpractice, a qualitative approach that engaged the
tenets ofinteractionist ethnography was deemed effective in capturing the process and in
developing a rich understanding of contextual factors that supported and hindered teacher
learning. The concept 'ethnography' will be discussed in detail in Chapter Four.
The central questions ofqualitative research concern issues that are "neither obvious nor
trivial" (Erickson 1986:121). They concern issues ofhuman choice and meaning,
implying that every assumption about meaning ought to be subjected to critical scrutiny.
Qualitative research is a form ofinquiry that explores phenomena in their natural settings
and uses multi-methods to interpret, understand, explain and give meaning to them
(Anderson 1999). The use ofqualitative methods assumes that reality is constructed by
individuals interacting in their social worlds. These meanings are located in individuals'
experiences and are mediated by the researcher's perceptions (Merriam 1998).
Denzin and Lincoln (1994:2) point out that qualitative research has a long and
distinguished history. They offer the following definition:
Qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic
approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in
their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomenon in terms of
the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use of a
variety of empirical materials- case study, personal experience, introspective, life story,
interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts - that describe routine
and problematic moments and meanings in individual's lives.
Qualitative research tends to be concerned with the character, tone and constituents ofa
phenomenon while quantitative research is measurable and concerned with statistical
interpretations of reality. Both qualitative and quantitative paradigms have much to offer
and can often be skilfully used together (Miles and Huberman 1994). The duality of
positivist and qualitative research is something ofthe past (Mouton 1996) and many
researchers agree that a false dichotomy has been created between these two approaches.
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