tandfonline.com – Capturing Sense-Made School Practice. The Activities of the Interviewer

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to discuss how to interview to investigate the practice of school organizations. The research question is: What are the activities the interviewer uses to capture improvement practices in school organizations? We apply a self-assessment method to examine two former projects. We argue that a practice lens is required and, thus, the analytical questions we ask ourselves are derived from practice theory and sense-making. The activities the interviewer uses to capture improvement practice in school organizations are expressed in four categories: (1) interview questions, (2) tools, (3) samplings, and (4) interview groupings. We found it difficult to address the critical role of body and material things and to pay attention to the importance of power and politics. An overall reflection is that the textual aspects tended to dominate in the interview, whereas the bodily and material aspects of practice seemed more elusive.