The use of interviews and focus groups in teacher research

Abstract

Despite posing a number of benefits, teacher research might be something classroom practitioners avoid engaging in due to inadequate research literacy. Part of this literacy consists of the knowledge and skills required to use popular research methods. Given that teachers might find it useful to read about how their peers have attempted to use such methods in a systematic fashion, this article describes my experience of using interviews and focus groups to better understand students’ attitudes, beliefs and practices.