Education International
Methodology and methods Research design This project is a multiple-methods case study, which consists of three strands:documentary, survey and interview. Each strand has a distinctive sample. The documentary strand explored attitudes towards privatisation by examining a small number of key policies and texts from ten CARICOM countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Trinidad and Tobago. This strand happened concurrently with the survey strand. Here, three participant groups were invited to share their understanding of the extent and impact of privatisation in their experience through an online questionnaire. These three groups were teachers, school leaders (principals), and parents, all in the publiceducation system. The phases upon which we focused in this strand comprised early childhood, primary and secondary. All ten nations mentioned above were invited to participate; responses were received from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, and Saint Lucia. The third strand comprised interviews, and took place following the questionnaire. Here, we interviewed seven people from five countries. The participant groups were a) Regional Body representative, b) teacher, c) school leader, d) teacher union representative. All data were analysed concurrently.
Recruitment In accordance with regional requirements, we asked permission of each national government to undertake empirical research there. This authorisation did not arrive from Antigua and Barbuda; St.. Kitts and Nevis; St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In those countries, the documentary strand alone took place. Where authorisation was granted, a list of public schools and their principals was obtained from the minister, or from a public database. For the questionnaire, a sample was created through targeting a number of these principals from each of that nation’s districts (unless advised by the Ministry, as in Guyana, to avoid certain districts owing to lack of internet there). The existence of a functional email address was therefore a key selection criterion. 10
