supporting tiriti-based curriculum delivery in mainstream early ...

clear to me they would use different phrases and perspectives to elaborate each
other‟s account of the philosophy and practices.
To recapitulate: this study involved multiple and mixed methods of data
collection. In addition to the survey and feedback from the Advisory Committee
members, information was collected from within the three cases such as transcripts
of meetings, teachers‟ journals, observations and interviews which became parts of
the overall data set. Although this section and Figure 4.1 present the data
collection as lineal, in reality it was not that neat. In particular towards the end of
the data collection stage, Case Study Three, interviews and the focus group took
place concurrently.
4.4 Methodological Matters Pertaining to Whole Project
In addition to the formal data collection approaches noted above, informal
forays into data collection occurred. A considerable number of informal visits
were made to the early child centres across the 2 years of field work. These visits
occurred mainly to return transcripts and/or to ask further questions of clarification.
However, they also enabled relationships to be built and maintained whilst
allowing informal conversations and observations to occur. It was the sum of all of
these that contributed to my critical reflections on Tiriti-based pedagogy, which as
discussed further on in this chapter formed a pivotal but seamless dimension of this
research. This mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data enabled me to have
varied sources upon which to base the analysis of the research. Although my
analysis was able to be triangulated by the variety, type of data, and member
checking and peer review, it was coloured by who I am and my experiences. Thus
autoethnography was an important tool.
4.4.1 Place of Autoethnography
Incorporating autoethnography (Ellis & Bochner, 2003) enabled me to
include my experiences of visits to the case study centres and also my instinctive
responses to the data. This enabled me to obtain stronger perceptions of what was
occurring in the research. Holt‟s (2003) definition of autoethnography “involves
highly personalized accounts where authors draw on their own experiences to
extend understanding of a particular discipline or culture” (p. 2). My experiences,
therefore, were important to the interpretation of the data.
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