Evaluation - Scottish Screen

pupils’ reactions to lead practitioners and teachers’ teaching within MIE were also included.
Finally, in this section, teachers were invited to reflect on whether or not the programme had
any impact on pupils critical awareness of themselves, school, and events in the world in
general.
The fifth theme in the teachers’ interview schedule concerned the personal and professional
impact of the programme and was directly related to the research question on the same theme.
The questions in this theme related to teachers’ personal enjoyment and appreciation of film
and other media and any impact that the programme may have had on their critical
connectedness with events in school and the world in general.
The final theme related to sustainability of the programme. Questions in this section invited
teachers to give their views on the strengths and shortcomings of MIE, how it relates to other
curricular areas and what would be required for MIE to become sustainable in their schools.
Interview schedules were also constructed for headteachers and school managers using
similar themes and questions (see Appendix 4). Two other themes were included in the
headteachers’ and school managers’ interviews. These related to management of the
programme in which headteachers were invited to report on support for the project from
within and without the school, staff development and response from the local authority to the
initiative. The second additional theme included questions regarding headteachers’
perspectives on improving design and delivery of the programme, the preparation of teachers
to teach MIE, sustainability and critical connectedness.
Similarly, interview schedules were constructed for lead practitioners (see Appendices 5 and
6).
Observation schedules were also constructed in order to gather data on the nature and purpose
of activities that took place in MIE classes and the time spent on them. Field notes were also
made regarding observation of lead practitioners, teachers and pupils (see Appendix 7).
Focus group themes were developed for pupils under three themes: their initial reaction to
MIE, any impact it may have had on their learning, and whether or not it has had any impact
on their attitude towards school and learning (see Appendix 8). Similar themes and prompts
were used as the basis for semi-structured interviews with parents (see Appendix 9).
In all cases, appropriately amended versions of the instruments were used for the second
round of interviews, observations and focus groups (see, for example, Appendices 3 and 6).
3.4 Participants
The Professional Development Programme built on Scottish Screen’s Teacher Education
Programme (TEP). The Programme entailed Film professionals working alongside
Education professionals in order to explore aspects of media that might be taught, how they
might be taught and how media literacy could become embedded in the curriculum in
Scottish primary and secondary schools. Within the Teacher Education Programme, media
education was defined as exploring, analysing and creating media artefacts. This was similar
to Ofcom’s definition of media education as encompassing, access to, understanding and
creation of media artefacts and corresponding to levels of media literacy that have been
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