This blog post focuses on my use of innovative creative research methods to explore the lived experience of GTCS-registered early years teachers in Scotland.

As an early years teacher I am part of Scotland’s diverse early years workforce. Nationally, the number of teachers working in the sector has declined, with Scotland’s Summary Statistics identifying a significant reduction from 1,686 teachers in 2006 to 679 in 2024 (Scottish Government, 2024). Despite research warning against attrition of the workforce (Dunlop et al., 2016), attrition has continued. My research aims to capture teachers’ personal experience from ‘within’ the profession before further erosion takes place.

Phenomenological methodology provided a scaffold to support my exploration of the lived-experience from ‘within’, developing knowledge of participants’ unique experience. Ten teachers participated in my research where I utilised a familiar tool in Scotland, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model (1994).

During the research design, I became interested in the use of mediating objects to support interviews (Clark, 2011). Looking outwards to creative research methods (Kara, 2020; Mannay, 2015), I decided that an innovative, creative method would mirror the creative and imaginative nature of early education. I carefully considered ethics, including use of new creative approaches, researcher positionality and the time impact on participants.

‘Looking outwards to creative research methods, I decided that an innovative, creative method would mirror the creative and imaginative nature of early education.’

Participants used three-dimensional Matryoshka dolls to symbolise Bronfenbrenner’s nested systems. The dolls provided physicality to Bronfenbrenner’s ecology, with each layer supporting articulation of the complex systems impacting role. Self-guided reflection made participant familiarisation with Bronfenbrenner’s framework highly important. By adapting the model, participants were further supported and empowered to reflect.

Figure 1. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological models of human development (1994), adapted by author

Art materials were carefully chosen and packed into a research box sent to participants. A comprehensive reflective guide alongside herbal teas and treats were included to encourage relaxed and reflective mindsets. The box aimed to empower individualisation and creativity. Restraints of affordability may be a limiting factor to future approaches using my method; however, for my research I felt that the investment in creativity was important to the context that the process resided within.

Participants were invited to reflect, starting with the smallest circle and doll. I posed reflective questions based on the model’s systems:

• Smallest, innermost doll revealed a word that participants felt best reflected ‘being’ an early years teacher.
• Microsystem: reflected the closest influences experienced by the early years teacher.
• Mesosystem: reflected the relationship between two or more elements of the microsystem.
• Exosystem: reflected external influences on the early years teacher.
• Macrosystem: reflected wider influences that indirectly impacted the experience of ‘being’ an early years teacher – including national and international influences.

After participants had reflected and decorated their dolls, I invited them to a semi-structured interview where the dolls became mediating objects to support conversation. I structured my questions around each doll, beginning with the smallest. In one example a participant reflected:

‘I used to love … I used to love education. I loved the little ones, you know, they’re so full of love normally and I just thought everything was love.’

Love was written on the base of their doll, grounding this at the centre of ‘being’ a teacher. Their love lived at the heart of the role. Primary colours on the body of this doll were used to symbolise the child and teacher as pure and unmuddled. Gradually, their nested layers unfolded and colours became mixed and sullied, turning to black on their fifth doll. Their powerful mixing of colour demonstrated the varied emotions encountered across the wider systems.

Participants spoke positively about the reflective resources and process. In one instance a participant passionately linked her use of ‘special’ textured and coloured paper to her early teaching days, demonstrating creativity and ownership. The dolls created were beyond what I could have imagined both visually and reflectively.

The dolls display a unique and intricate visual data set, with rich, and often emotional, demonstrations of experience through their role as a teacher. Innovative, creative methods elicited unique visual voice, illustrating ‘the multifaceted nature of human phenomena’ (Morrow, 2007, p. 211). Bronfenbrenner’s model connected through the Matryoshka dolls, representing the complexity of layered experiences. Narrative analysis of the data is ongoing, with individual participants forming embedded units within an overarching case study on the role.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. Readings on the Development of Children, 2(1), 37–43. https://www.ncj.nl/wp-content/uploads/media-import/docs/6a45c1a4-82ad-4f69-957e-1c76966678e2.pdf

Dunlop, A. W., Frame, K., Goodier, J., Miles, C., Renton, K., Small, M., Adie, J., & Ludke, K. (2016). ‘Sustaining the ambition’: The contribution of GTCS-registered teachers as part of the early learning and childcare workforce in Scotland. The Child’s Curriculum Group. https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/files/63759731/Dunlop_etal_2016_The_Contribution_of_GTCS_registered_Teachers.pdf

Kara, H. (2020). Creative research methods: A practical guide (2nd edn). ‎Policy Press.

Mannay, D. (2015). Visual, narrative and creative research methods: Application, reflection and ethics. Routledge.

Morrow, S. (2007). Qualitative research in counseling psychology: Conceptual foundations. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(2), 209–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006286990

Scottish Government. (2024). Summary statistics for schools in Scotland 2024. https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2024/