The primary purpose of this pilot study was to test and thereby refine
instruments and procedures for use in a multistate study of informal,
teacher-initiated vocational and academic integration to be conducted during
the second year of the project. In addition to testing instruments and
procedures, data gathered from Illinois teachers would comprise the initial
dataset for the larger study. The topic of integration has been studied rather
extensively in recent years, though the focus has typically been on schoolwide,
statewide, or national initiatives. This study, on the other hand, sought to
ferret out self-developed initiatives which otherwise go unnoticed beyond the
walls of the individual classroom. To do so required careful identification of
the subjects to be studied, thus the intent and purpose of this pilot
study.
Though intensive and time-consuming, the multiple-stage process used to
identify the pilot sites proved an effective means for identifying the
subjects. Personnel from the Illinois State Board of Education responded
promptly to the request to identify exemplary programs and/or teachers in each
vocational subject area, providing names, addresses, and telephone numbers of
the schools/programs and individuals. The telephone interviews with the
nominees were very time-consuming, often requiring two or more calls to set up
and complete the interviews. All respondents, however, were receptive to the
intent of the study and unfailingly cordial and thorough in the
interviews.
As a result of the interviews, the telephone interview instrument will be
modified slightly for the larger study. As a result of efforts to gather as
much information as possible upon which to base the decision whether or not to
examine the teacher more closely, it was found that the instrument lacked
sufficient focus. After analyzing the data from the interviews, it was decided
that selection for further study would be based primarily on the length of the
teacher's tenure and the number of years she or he had been integrating, along
with the nature of the integration. Several extraneous items were subsequently
removed from the final telephone interview instrument. For the expanded study,
and for future studies of this nature, it is highly recommended that sample
selection interview efforts be tightly focused on the specific variable(s) of
concern.
Another area which was solidified based on the pilot test was the degree of
structure of the on-site interviews. It was originally planned for the
interviews to be highly structured, but it was decided prior to the actual
interviews to audiotape the interviews as a safeguard against missing any
important information. This decision proved fortuitous. The interviewees,
with minimal prompting or probing, were very expansive in their descriptions of
their backgrounds and experiences with integration. Much of the flavor of the
results would have been lost in a more structured setting. Thus, it was
decided to audiotape all interviews, transcribe the tapes, and perform content
analysis on the transcripts.
The initial analysis of the tape transcripts was done by hand according to
preset organizers. Due to the time and difficulty encountered, a computerized
analysis tool is being examined for use in the larger study. Also, the
organizers were modified slightly based on the results of the
interviews.
In anticipation of the expanded study, the findings provide useful direction.
Based on the findings of this study, future research in this area should focus
on teaching methodologies used to foster integration. Every attempt should be
made to locate and examine individuals like Paul in Case 1. The approaches and
activities he employed to accomplish integration also facilitated
problem-solving and teaming abilities in his students. His classroom was truly
"different" in many respects and reflected much of the current writing on
application-based instruction and integration methods. It is these types of
experiences which can contribute more substantively to practice. Another
reason for increasing the focus of the selection process is Case 3, which was
not reported. Though the telephone interview gave this program the appearance
of being innovative, the on-site interview revealed that, while it was a solid
program, essentially nothing remotely extraordinary was happening in terms of
integration or innovative instruction. This again emphasizes the importance of
focusing the selection specifically on a few components or variables.