According to Jan Blommaert that is? During the 4 interviews I conducted in the past two days this was the thought foremost in my mind. Maybe it was just my psychological little 'get-out-of-jail-free card' helping me not become overtly critical about my interview abilities. What this little adage does provide, is the security and confidence to just be yourself in the interview and actually just engage with the interviewee on a personal level. However, deep down I do wonder whether the data from the interviews will deliver. I can't say now because I think the true quality of the data will only become obvious during the intense analysis period.
I'm more concerned about my staff interviews at the moment - the ones where I'm trying to tap into the knowledge construction underpinning specific assessment tasks and their criteria. I just don't 'get' what it is I should be asking about, and realised on Thursday that once I start drilling down into the basis of the assignment construction - it becomes exactly that - a drilling exercise where the lecturer is inevitably put on the spot (certainly not my intention) and it starts to feel as if I'm evaluating the lecturer's theoretical knowledge, prowess and the credibility of their assessment strategy. So it's a difficult balance to reach and maintain.
I love the student interviews - I just come away thinking - wow! what phenomenal young people, who are so acutely aware of what's happening in there course. Educators out there - if you ever think your students aren't aware of the underlying hidden agendas being transmitted via your curriculum and your actions and behaviours - think again.
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