JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Abstract

The topic of this study stems from my past experiences as a Teach For India Fellow and my interactions with public school teachers. The narrative around the impact of TFI in India’s education sector often an omits the perceptions of public school teachers. This study, therefore, seeks to highlight the perceptions of higher secondary public school teachers in India about Teach for India Fellows through the use of Crafted Stories to guide readers towards the voices of public school teachers.

The research adheres to a Hermeneutic constructivist approach, with the main consideration of this study being concerned with how researchers may be able to utilise Story Crafting under Hermeneutic Phenomenology to better illustrate the lived experiences of higher secondary public school teachers. The thesis is supported through a philosophical and theoretical framework that utilises the Hermeneutic Circle, Fusion of Horizons, Neoliberal Theory, Peircean Perception Theory and Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. From the verbatim interview data of public school teachers, I present three crafted stories, each engaging with different themes and perceptions from the shared experiences of myself and the interview participants.

The findings of this study observe that the public school teachers’ perceptions of TFI Fellows were negatively associated with the ‘role’ of a TFI Fellow. The observed perceptions are related to administrative overload, infrastructural and staffing issues, cultural ideas around discipline, and feelings of loss of control or exclusion. This study also contributes to a broader understanding of the methodological implications of Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Story Crafting. This study indicates that Story Crafting is a suitable for researchers who have intimate understanding context of their research and will engage readers on an emotional level which may not be possible through other qualitative approaches. By encouraging researchers in education to embrace this approach, future research may allow for readers to develop a deeper appreciation of the shared experiences of all stakeholders in this field.