Master thesis, Public Administration:
policy alienation and motivation
Name: Aron de Jong (S1953982)
Track: Public Management
11-01-2019
UNIVERSITEIT LEIDENThesis advisor and first reader : Nadine Raaphorst Second reader : Tanachia Ashiksli
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Table of Content
1.1 Introduction ... 3
1.2 Reading Guide ... 4
2.1 Literature review and academic relevance ... 4
2.2 Societal and practical relevance ... 7
3. Theoretical framework ... 8 3.1 Street-level bureaucracy ... 8 3.2 Policy alienation ... 9 3.3 Work motivation ... 10 3.4 Self-Determination theory ... 10 4. Methodology ... 12 4.1 Case selection ... 12 4.2 Research design ... 13 4.3 Research method ... 13
4.3a Trustworthiness of research ... 14
4.3b Respondent selection ... 15
4.4 Translating concepts to interview questions ... 16
4.3a General policy alienation ... 16
4.3b Work motivation ... 17
4.3c Social determination theory ... 17
4.5 Plan of analysis ... 18
4.5a Plan ... 19
4.5b Coding ... 19
5. Findings and analysis ... 20
5.1 Strategic powerlessness ... 20
Influence on national policy ... 21
Frustration towards policy ... 21
Ambivalence ... 22
Strategic powerlessness, motivation and the role of SDT ... 22
5.2 Tactical powerlessness ... 23
Participation in school-level policy making ... 23
Interaction with management... 24
Tactical powerlessness, motivation and the role of SDT ... 24
5.3 Operational powerlessness ... 26
Experience of discretion ... 26
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Constrained ... 27
Operational powerlessness, motivation and the role of the SDT ... 27
5.4 Societal meaninglessness ... 29
Futility ... 29
Narrow goals ... 30
Societal meaninglessness, motivation and the role of SDT... 30
5.5 Client meaninglessness ... 31
Consideration ... 32
Obstruction ... 32
Client meaninglessness and motivation ... 33
6. Conclusion ... 35
6.1 Street-level bureaucracy and policy alienation ... 36
6.3 Strengths and weaknesses ... 38
6.3 Suggestions ... 39
7.Bibliography ... 39
8. Annex ... 42
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1.1 Introduction
On the 5th of October and the 12th of December 2017, there was a nationwide demonstration among primary school teachers in the Netherlands; the demands of some of the protesters were higher wages and a decline in work pressure (RTV Noord, 2017). One teacher at a strike remarked that; ‘’it is almost normal to have thirty kids in class. It is a utopia to think that children in that
situation truly get the education that they need’’ (Omroep Brabant , 2018). Another challenge seems
to be the declining quality of primary education in the Netherlands, according to one report the quality of education has been declining for the past 20 years (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting , 2018). This trend combined with frustration among primary school teachers about their wages and the work pressure that they face paints a troubling picture of primary education in the Netherlands. This calls for deeper research in understanding the plight and frustration among these teachers; the main issue seems to be wages, yet there could be underlying factors causing frustrations such as an
unresponsive government or school management. Teachers play a central role in the education process of students and can be considered as being street-level bureaucrats who are implementing government policy, depending on the education system,
Because of their important role in the education process, it is important to study the behavior of teachers to find out what moves them. There are many possible routes to do this, but this thesis will focus on the relatively new concept of policy alienation. Devised by Tummers, Bekkers & Stein (2009), this concept refers to government employees feeling a disconnection towards government policy, usually one that they have to implement (Tummers, Bekkers, & Steijn, Beleidsvervreemding van publieke professionals: theoretisch raamwerk en een casus over verzekeringsartsen
arbeidskundigen, 2009). This alienated feeling is illustrated by a statement that was made by a teacher that was interviewed, this remark was followed by a question that the researcher asked on a policy that required teachers to make group plans; ‘’I really hate it, really I think it is terrible and
there are also new rules. So if you do not do it correctly, then you have to adjust it, and then it has to be in a different format, and blah blah ‘’.
This statement indicates that the government employee did not agree with a new policy that she was supposed to implement. According to Tummers et al (2009), five dimensions influence this feeling of disconnectedness; one of them is having no say in how the policy is implemented in the organization. This feeling can be illustrated by a statement of a teacher that was interviewed for this thesis;’’ But, well, very often management gets certain guidelines from the ministry and then management brings them up for discussion. Then you can give your opinion, but that does not have a lot of impact’’. This statement indicates that the public professional feels that he or she has no influence in deciding how the new policy will be implemented in the organization. This example is just one of the five
dimensions of policy alienation, this thesis will discuss every dimension in more detail.
The statements do indicate that the government employee feels some frustration towards the policy, but not whether it will influence his or her work attitude. The concept provides an opportunity to see whether a feeling of disconnectedness is part of the current frustration among teachers. Previous research has indicated a connection between policy alienation and work attitudes, such as work motivation (Tummers et al, 2009; Tummers, (Tummers, Bekkers, Thiel van, & Steijn, 2014)). Despite noting the connection between policy alienation and work motivation the authors fail to provide further explanation on the exact relationship. The main aim of this thesis is to explore the connection between these two concepts. It will do so by interviewing primary school teachers on the current education policy; though not part of the official research objective, these interviews could potentially also help to uncover part of the current frustration among primary school teachers in the
4 Netherlands. By uncovering this, this thesis thus contributes to the current debate in the
Netherlands, about the rising shortage of primary school teachers and the fact that a lot of teachers are not happy with the current situation (Omroep Brabant , 2018).
Based on the current literature his thesis has the following research question:
How is the feeling of policy alienation connected to the work motivation of primary school teachers in the Netherlands?
1.2 Reading Guide
In chapter 2, the focus is on explaining both the academic and the societal relevance of this research; it will actively discuss why this thesis builds on academic literature and explains what gap it is trying to fill by discussing previous research on policy alienation. In addition, it will also describe why this research is also relevant in a larger societal sense by giving a more detailed explanation of the current issue surrounding primary school teachers in the Netherlands.
Chapter 3 will discuss the theoretical framework of this thesis; it will provide detailed definitions of the relevant concepts that are used in the thesis. It will refer back to previous research in order to clearly delineate how the writer perceives these concepts and how the reader is expected to approach them when reading this research project. The concepts that will be discussed are policy alienation, street-level bureaucracy, work motivation and finally the self-determination theory. The fourth chapter consists of the methodology of the research; the first part is the research framework. This first part is a discussion of the case selection; it will provide both theoretical and practical reasons for looking at primary school teachers in the Netherlands with regards to the research question. The second section consists of an explanation of the research methods of this thesis and provides grounds for using interviews in order to answer the research question. The third subsection consists of an explanation on how this thesis will approach the concepts with regards to the data collected by the interviews, what words will be of importance and it provides some
examples on what the researcher is looking for. Lastly, this chapter will provide a plan of analysis, it will discuss why the use of thematic analysis is appropriate for this research project and it will explain how exactly the researcher will attempt to conduct the analysis.
In chapter 5, the writer will present both the findings and the analysis, it will provide examples of the manifestation of policy alienation by providing relevant statements given by the teachers. In
addition, it will also provide statements that exemplify how the teachers experience the connection between their motivation and the feeling of policy alienation; and it will provide and explain the larger themes that appear in the data. Furthermore, by using the self-determination theory, this research project will describe the mechanisms that possibly connects these two concepts to each other.
In the last chapter of this thesis, the researcher will conclude on the findings and analysis of this thesis and the overall subject itself. It will also discuss the strengths, weaknesses, of the thesis; lastly, he will provide suggestions on further research.
2.1 Literature review and academic relevance
Policy alienation is a mental disconnection between a public professional and a policy that he or she is supposed to implement. A (new) policy might be skewed towards efficiency while the public
5 professional or street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) will identify more with equity, and the needs of clients (Tummers et al, 2009). ). In the literature, policy alienation is divided into two dimensions, that of powerlessness which refers to a lack of influence in policy-making or a lack of discretion. The other dimension is meaninglessness which refers to the pointlessness of policies with regards to societal and client goals; both of these dimensions are divided further into sub-dimensions these are, strategical, tactical and operational powerlessness and societal and client meaninglessness (Tummers et al, 2009). Tummers et al (2009) noted the connection between policy alienation and work motivation when they remarked that the dimension of meaninglessness led to motivational issues under healthcare professionals (Tummers et al, 2009). Tummers et al (2009) provide no explanation on why this seems to occur; therefore this thesis seeks to explore this connection. Exploring this connection will be beneficial to the street-level bureaucracy literature because it will potentially explain how the concept of policy alienation is connected to the motivation of SLBs. This thesis will now provide some more in-depth review of the current literature on policy alienation; what other authors have found so far, and how it relates to other concepts within the literature of street-level bureaucracy.
Research on policy alienation so far has focused on several different factors; most research has tried to account for the occurrence of the policy alienation dimensions, by actively searching for
manifestations of the dimensions. They then provide explanations on why they believe the
professionals are feeling policy alienation (Tummers et al, 2009; Tummers et al, 2012; Hupe, Hill & Buffat, 2014). The other type of research seems to mostly focus on how policy alienation affects the professional’s attitude towards policy, in terms of the willingness to implement or the willingness to change (Tummers, 2011; Van Engen et al, 2015; Tummers, 2012). Then there is the notable
difference between policy alienation and the less prominent general policy alienation with both concepts appearing to hold significance. In broad terms there seem to be two main streams among articles that deal with policy alienation, the first group focuses on the impact of policy alienation on other variables such as the behavior of SLBs (Tummers, 2011; Van Engen et al, 2016; Tummers, 2012). The other group focuses more on exploring and dismantling the concept of policy alienation itself (Tummers et al, 2009; Engen van, 2017); however, some articles also blur lines and fit into both streams. This thesis will now discuss some of the sub-streams which the writer consider the most important in the policy alienation literature which is; those who stick to the implementation process of a policy (Tummers et al, 2009; Tummers, Bekkers, van Thiel, Steijn, 2014), those who discuss policy alienation towards a specific policy (Tummers et al, 2009; Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, Stein, 2016; Tummers, Bekkers & Stein, 2012; Tummers, 2011), and lastly those who focus on the behavior of SLBs (Tummers, 2011;Tummers, 2014). All of the above fit roughly in the first major stream of policy alienation literature. However this literature review will also consist of; those who actively discuss professionalism and its relation to policy alienation (Tummers, Bekkers & Stein, 2012; Tummers, 2011), those articles that discuss policy alienation towards a specific policy (Tummers et al, 2009; Van Engen, Tummers et al, 2014), and lastly those who discuss the concept of general policy alienation (van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers & Steijn, 2016; van Engen, 2017), these fit more into the second stream.
A lot of articles discuss professionalism and its connection to policy alienation (Tummers et al, 2009; Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, Stein, 2016; Tummers, Bekkers & Stein, 2012; Tummers, 2011). Academic articles on policy alienation actively discuss professions and professionalism which is understandable, seeing as it is one of the underlying factors of policy alienation (Tummers et al, 2009; Tummers, 2011). Most authors seem to discuss the topic but largely refrain from defining dimensions or attributes; some such as Van Engen et al (2016) make a distinction between
6 professionals and semi-professionals while some authors make no distinction between the two (Tummers et al, 2012). Most research seems to focus on jobs that have some degree of autonomy (teachers, social workers) while also focusing on jobs with a higher degree of status and expertise (doctors) (Tummers et al, 2009; Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, Stein, 2016; Tummers, Bekkers & Stein, 2012; Tummers, 2011). In addition, it seems that most articles simply refer to professionals as having to deal with conflicting values; they rarely use the term street-level bureaucrat which is surprising because some professions such as social workers and teachers essentially are. This thesis will not go into depth about the concept of professionalism but will ask the teacher if they feel their position of public professional has been diminished with regards to new policies. Suffice to say is that professionalism is an interesting and important concept when discussing policy alienation, as it seems connected to policy alienation. For example, higher feelings of professionalism in terms of expertise and autonomy might also be connected to higher feelings of powerlessness when the government does not consult with this profession when creating a new policy.
A major difference that can be distinguished between the articles is whether they look at policy alienation from the point of view of a specific policy, or if they look at general policy alienation. Most of the articles focus on a specific policy such as an introduction of a new policy, or a new law
(Tummers, Bekkers, Steijn, 2009; Tummers, 2012; Tummers, 2011; Tummers, Bekkers, Steijn, 2012; Tummers, Bekkers, van Thiel, Steijn, 2014; Loyens, 2014). These articles had a variety of findings, for example, the original article by Tummers, Bekkers, and Steijn (2009) found that there were
frustrations because professional associations did not seem to be included in the policy-making process which led to a feeling of strategic powerlessness (Tummers et al, 2009). Tummers, Bekkers & Steijn (2012) confirmed this finding when looking at both teachers and insurance physicians and their feelings of strategic powerlessness compared to the strength of professional associations (Tummers et al, 2012). Tummers et al (2012) made an important observation; they found that teachers had reduced discretionary power because of new policy rules and that their relatively low status as professionals reduced their ability to protect their discretion (Tummers et al, 2012). Likewise, the Tummers et al (2009) found similar results when looking at the impact of a policy change with regards to the level of discretion of doctors and labor experts; noting that the discretion of the labor experts who can be seen as semi-professional was more heavily affected (Tummers et al, 2009). These articles seem to confirm the expected view that the degree of professionalism is connected to policy alienation.
Some articles focus more on the outcomes of policy alienation in terms of the behavior of SLBs, in both Tummers (2011) and Tummers (2012) the focus is on the willingness to change. In his 2011 article, Tummers found that only operational powerlessness, societal and client meaninglessness was negatively correlated with the willingness to change in terms of implementing a modification in the existing work processes (Tummers, 2011). In his 2012 article, Tummers found that both dimensions of powerlessness and meaninglessness were positively related. However, the 2012 article combines the powerlessness dimensions and did find similar to Tummers (2011) that the meaninglessness dimensions had a stronger correlation (Tummers, 2012). In addition, Tummers (2012) also found that both dimensions led to lower feelings of jobs satisfaction (Tummers, 2012). Tummers, Bekkers, van Thiel, and Steijn (2014) found that policy alienation influenced behavior at the implementation level; they confirmed the negative correlation between policy alienation and the willingness to implement. In addition, they found that policy alienation led to reduced behavioral support for the policy
(Tummers et al, 2014). Loyens (2014) article in the book Understanding Street-level bureaucracy (2014) provides another interesting insight into the coping behavior of SLBs with regards to policy
7 alienation; she distinguished between positive coping behavior, acquiescence (accepting the state of powerlessness); emotional habituation (tolerating the meaninglessness), and negative coping behavior; do your job from a sense of duty (feeling less meaninglessness) it; get your share (feeling less powerlessness). This again shows that the concept is connected to actual behaviors of SLBs. (Loyens, 2014). All of these articles focus on the outcomes of policy alienation and its connection to the actual behavior of street-level bureaucrats. It seems that policy alienation has an actual impact on the behavior and a result might have an impact on the results of a policy itself.
All these articles looked at a specific policy or policy change; however, there is another point of view which is the general policy alienation perspective. Where the original concept by Tummers et al (2009) focuses on the experiences and feelings of SLBs on a specific policy, general policy alienation focuses more on the feelings of SLBs on government policies in general (Engen van, 2017). The first important question to answer is if general policy alienation is even a workable and detectable concept; and if so, is it distinguishable from other concepts in street-level bureaucracy. The following articles present a convincing case that it is, as they focus on distinguishing general policy alienation from other related concepts. Both van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers & Steijn (2016) and van Engen (2017) take the perspective of general policy alienation. Van Engen (2017) focuses on creating a short measurement model of general policy alienation (Engen van, 2017). Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers & Steijn (2016) describe general policy alienation as an overall disconnection from government policies (Van Engen et al, 2016). Van Engen et al (2016) did indeed find that general policy alienation is related but still had distinguishable effects from the other concepts such as trust. The authors also found that general policy alienation was negatively related with policy consistency; suggesting that if successive policies are very different from each other it will increase the feeling of general policy alienation (van Engen et al, 2016). Van Engen et al (2016) also found a negative correlation between transformational leadership and general policy alienation especially with regards to tactical and operational powerlessness (Van Engen et al, 2016). Lastly, the authors also looked at the willingness to implement new policies and found that; all dimensions of general policy alienation were
negatively correlated (Van Engen et al, 2016). These articles thus show that general policy alienation is a viable concept to research in its own right, which is important considering that this thesis will make use of the concept.
In conclusion, policy alienation has been connected to a lot of other concepts related to public policy. This makes policy alienation an interesting subject in itself, but the initial finding by Tummers et al (2009) on the connection between policy alienation and motivation calls for further research; and it is this connection that this thesis seeks to explore. Exploring this connection allows for a deeper understanding of the impact that policy alienation has on the psyche of SLBs. By understanding this connection future research can develop actual countermeasures to ensure that the motivational loses that SLBs might experience due to policy alienation is kept to a minimum. It will explore this possible connection with the self-determination theory (SDT), This theory provides a unique opportunity to study the connection with proven indicators of (intrinsic) motivation, the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness allow this thesis to truly analyze how this connection works (Gagné & Deci, 2005). A more detailed explanation of why and how will be discussed in the
theoretical framework and methodology.
8 The current public issue surrounding primary school teachers in the Netherlands is indicated by the multiple strikes that have occurred so far, and the fact that more strikes are planned (RTV Noord, 2017). This is despite the promise of the central government to invest 770 million in primary education to increase wages and reduce the work pressure of teachers (Kuiper, 2017). This calls for further research that can help to uncover the frustration among primary school teachers. According to the teachers, the issue is further exacerbated by a shortage of teachers in primary schools (Omroep Brabant , 2018); which according to the Dutch government is an issue that needs to be resolved (Rijksoverheid , 2018). The demands of the teachers seem straight forward, higher wages and a reduction of the work pressure; in fact increasing the wages might even solve the whole issue as higher wages will attract more people and thus partly solve the issue of the high work pressure. However issues in the public sphere are rarely that easy to solve, therefore it is important to look at other factors that might be causing frustration among primary school teachers. This thesis will focus on the feeling that the central government is unresponsive to the needs of teachers. This feeling can cause resentment which eventually might cause teachers to leave their job and discourage future teachers from entering the work field.
Primary education plays an important role in a person’s life; the Dutch government is according to the Dutch constitution responsible for education in the Netherlands. In addition, the European Convention on Human Rights secured the rights of children to receive an education (Sariwating, 2014). Since teachers play such a central role in providing this education, it is important to determine what moves and motivates them. This is part of the reason why the researcher has chosen to focus on primary school teachers. By conducting this research this thesis could provide more information on the demotivating impact of policy alienation among teachers, and if this concept is something the government needs to take into consideration while devising policies that will tackle the current issues surrounding primary education in the Netherlands, albeit not being an official research objective.
3. Theoretical framework
Based on the gap presented in the literature review it is important to build the theoretical basis of this research. This thesis will now provide the theoretical background and foundation of this research, it will introduce and explain the main concepts of importance within this thesis. Every concept has its own chapter and the information is based on existing literature.
3.1 Street-level bureaucracy
It is important to first define the concept of street-level bureaucrat; this thesis has already used the term a few times without properly explaining its meaning and attributes. This research project will use the definition as provided by Lipsky who defined SLBs as those government employees who provide public services for citizens and who “interact with and have wide discretion over the
dispensation of benefits or allocation of public sanctions” (Lipsky book, 2016 pg.xi). According to
Lipsky, the work of SLBs is filled with rules and procedures set up by political supervisors which SLBs are forced to follow, yet it is also expected that they show individual consideration to citizen-clients (Lipsky, 2016). Here one can already detect a conflict in their work; the individual consideration versus sticking to the rules and regulations. Teachers fit with this definition because they interact regularly with students and have the ability to punish students (giving bad grades, detention etc.) as well as benefits (positive encouragement, advice to let the student advance to the next grade etc.).
9 Yet similar to other studies on policy alienation this thesis considers teachers to not only be SLBs but also semi-professionals (Van Engen et al, 2016). Rainey recognized that the definition of what constitutes a profession is somewhat conflicted but there are some basic elements (Rainey, 2014). These elements are; having distinct theoretical knowledge to conduct an activity, complex and intense training, use of examinations to test suitability, professional associations, adhering to a code of conduct, and altruistic motivation (Rainey, 2014). In addition, another important element are the values that professionals supposedly adhere to; having expertise within the profession, having autonomy in tasks and decision-making, considering work as a way of life, ethos to serve a client without self-interests, self-regulation and maintaining standards through professional associations (Rainey, 2014). Based on these many elements and factors, this thesis will take the same definition as Van Engen et al (2016) when they researched general policy alienation; ‘’to describe an occupation as
a profession may be simply to identify it as a particular kind of occupation, typically one with high status and high rewards, requiring long formal training and delivering a personal service’’ (Van Engen et al, 2016, pg.1089).
3.2 Policy alienation
Now it is important to discuss the concept of policy alienation, as this is the first concept of interest; this research will exclusively focus on the dimensions of powerlessness and meaninglessness. This thesis will focus on general policy alienation instead of the ‘regular’ policy alienation; this is because it will not focus on a specific reform or policy in primary education but rather the education policy in general. General policy alienation has also proven to be a concept that is detectable (Van Engen et al, 2016; Van Engen, 2017); though Van Engen et al (2016) observed general policy alienation having similar effect as trust they still claimed it was distinguishable from it (Van Engen et al, 2016). Based on this finding this thesis argues that utilizing the concept of general policy alienation is indeed a valid option.
The definition of this concept is taken from Van Engen (2017) article, she defined general policy alienation as: ‘’an overall cognitive disconnectedness from government policies. In other words,
general policy alienation occurs when people cannot identify with government policies overall. It is not about a specific policy, but about a disinterest in government policies in general; frontline workers’ policy predisposition’’ (Van Engen, 2017, p. 513).
The literature on policy alienation divides the concept into two different dimensions, that of powerlessness related mostly to the level of influence of a public professional; and the other being meaninglessness which refers to the worthwhileness of a policy in both societal and individual sense (Tummers et al, 2009). The definitions of both meaninglessness and powerlessness are taken from Tummers, Bekkers & Stein (2012). In their article they define meaninglessness as; ‘’Meaninglessness
is the inability to comprehend the relationship of one’s contribution with a larger purpose’’ (Tummers,
Bekker, Stein, 2012, pg. 261); in this research, the focus will be on the education policy or educating pupils in general. Powerlessness is defined as; ‘’Powerlessness is a person’s lack of control over events
in their life’’ (Tummers, Bekkers, Stein, 2012, pg. 261). In the case of this research, ‘’the events’’
refers to the general policy that the SLBs have to implement. These two definitions are too broad to use but defining them gives some important background information to understanding the dimensions which this thesis will use in order to try and explore policy alienation. For the sub-dimensions, the writers will look to Van Engen et al (2016), one of the first articles that properly defined the sub-dimensions of general policy alienation (Engen et al, 2016). These are the exact definitions, examples of how the researcher will detect them is provided in the methodology section of this thesis (see 4.3a).
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Strategic powerlessness: ‘’The influence that professionals usually perceive themselves as having on decisions concerning the content of government policies as captured in rules and regulation’’ (Van
Engen, 2016, pg. 1091)
Tactical powerlessness: ‘’ The influence that professionals usually perceive themselves as having on decisions concerning the way (new) government policies are implemented within their organization’’
(van Engen, 2016, pg. 1091)
Operational powerlessness: ‘’ The influence that professionals usually perceive themselves as having during the actual implementation of government policies’’. (Van Engen, 2016, pg. 1091).
Societal meaninglessness: ‘’ The perception of professionals concerning the added value of contemporary policy to socially relevant goals’’. (Van Engen, 2016, pg. 1091)
Client meaninglessness: ‘’ The perception of professionals concerning the added value of contemporary policy for their own clients’’. (Van Engen, 2016, pg. 1091).
3.3 Work motivation
Work motivation is defined by a variety of authors see Rainey (2014) and Suciu, Mortan & Lazar (2013) for examples. However more often than not these definitions are not workable definitions. Therefore this thesis looks towards Gagné & Deci (2005), to delineate work motivation this research will focus on intrinsic motivation; the definitions for this concept is taken from Gagné & Deci (2005), intrinsic motivation is here defined as; ‘’Intrinsic motivation involves people doing an activity because
they find it interesting and derive spontaneous satisfaction from the activity itself’’. (Gagné, Deci,
2005, pg. 331). Using this definition this thesis will be able to detect intrinsic motivation, which is crucial since the intrinsic motivation is in this research more related to the satisfaction of the work itself. For example, the connection could look like this, general policy alienation leads to teachers feeling less satisfaction from conducting their work, as a result, they will become less (intrinsically) motivated. This thesis will not try to distinguish if SLB’s are more motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic factors but rather if policy alienation results in less enjoyable and satisfactory work; and thus leads to lower levels of motivation. In addition to detecting elements of satisfaction and enjoyment, the researcher will also ask teachers to reflect directly on their motivation.
3.4 Self-Determination theory
So far the connection between policy alienation and work motivation in the literature has been a limited observation by Tummers et al (2009) who claimed that the dimensions of meaninglessness led to motivational issues (Tummers et al, 2009). The thesis explores how a possible relationship can be explained, relying on the self-determination theory (hereafter referred to as SDT); the SDT looks at the inner processes of humans and their tendency to develop and self-regulate (Ryan, Deci, 2000). The theory focuses on the inherent growth of people and their innate needs that are the foundation for self-motivation (Ryan, Deci, 2000); the SDT itself is part of the broader content theories on motivation (Rainey, 2014). Since this thesis places a special focus on intrinsic motivation, which is about people conducting an activity or action because of the inherent satisfaction that it provides, this thesis considers the SDT as a fitting and compatible theory for the purpose of this research. This is because the theory makes a clear distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, Ryan & Deci also conducted research to differentiate the two types. Based on this research Ryan & Deci
11 (2000) argued that the innate physiological needs that people have are the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Facilitating these needs they argue is ‘’essential for facilitating optimal
functioning of the natural propensities for growth and integration’’(Ryan & Deci, 2000, pg. 68). The
SDT is thus a theory that allows the researcher to dissect the concept of intrinsic motivation and see how exactly it is connected to policy alienation. It is, therefore, a theory that fits with the objectives and goals of this research.
It is now important to further discusses the innate needs of the SDT to see how other authors defined these needs. The need for competence is in this thesis defined as; ’the degree to which
individuals feel effective in their ongoing interactions with the social environment and experience opportunities in which to express their capabilities’’ (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, &
Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011, p. 1459). In the view of this research, effectiveness does not only refer to being effective in one’s working environment but also in the broader societal sense; this need could be related to the dimension of meaninglessness. The focus of teachers is likely on educating their pupils, properly educating their pupils is a way for them to feel effective in their work; if a policy is considered meaningless in their eyes it is likely that it does not further the goal of educating their pupils and therefore it might clash with their need for competence. An example would be a
controlling policy by the government that requires teachers to register every activity that they do with the pupils. The teachers could consider this policy meaningless because they feel they are not doing anything useful, and due to time it costs them to register the activities they have less time to properly prepare their lectures. This could clash with their need for competence and therefore makes their job less enjoyable and satisfactory and thus less motivating.
The second way in which this research explores the possible relationship between policy alienation and work motivation is through SDT’s need for autonomy. This thesis defines the need for autonomy as; ‘’the need to experience of choice and volition in one’s behavior and to the personal authentic
endorsement of one’s activities and actions’’ (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011, p. 387). In essence, it
refers to someone undertaking actions or activities because they decide and want to, without a sense of pressure that forces them to undertake said activities (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011). This need is in the view of this thesis possibly connected to the powerlessness dimension of policy alienation but they are not the same. If teachers feel as if they have no input in how education policy is constructed or how it is implemented in their organization they experience powerlessness. However, this does not guarantee that it has an impact on their psyche; this is depended on their need for autonomy. The need for autonomy is the need for this input and influence; this will be highly dependent on the individual and their presences. Being forced to implement guidelines or policy that they do not agree with will clash with their need for autonomy only if they the desire to have this influence, as a result, this might reduce the satisfaction or pleasure that they derive from their work. In contrast, if they feel their input is being considered and used their needs for autonomy will be met and in that way could increase the motivation that they have for implementing the policy.
The third need according to the SDT is the need for relatedness, this need ‘’ reflects feelings of
closeness and connection in one’s everyday interactions’’ (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011, p. 387). It
refers to one’s connection with peers and clients (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011). The dimension of policy meaninglessness might be connected to this need, as the feeling of policy meaninglessness might affect the connection between teachers and their students, as well as their peers. For example, being forced to implement meaningless policy might bore the pupils and this might have a negative effect on the atmosphere in the class which could cause feelings of disconnectedness between pupils and teachers. The relationship with colleagues, students, and their parents might then influence
12 motivation; having unpleasant interactions with colleagues, students or their parents can make their work feel less satisfactory enjoyable and therefore less motivating.
The SDT posits that if the needs for relatedness and competence are met with regards to a behavior or activity people are more likely to internalize the value of said behavior, and are thus more likely to do it without outside interference because it is intrinsically motivating to them , but the degree to which they do depends on how the needs for autonomy are met (Gagné & Deci, 2005). The higher a person internalizes a value the more likely the activity will be satisfying to them and as a result more intrinsically motivating.
Lastly, it is important to close with how exactly this thesis will use these concepts in the research and the following analysis. This thesis has employed the strategy of sensitizing concepts, which refers to that the concepts laid in the theoretical framework will be used as guidelines or direction; they provide the basic background and roadmap to what the researcher will look for (Bowen, 2006). However, the researcher will work inductively in the sense that he will leave the concepts open to interpretation for the teachers, and will be basing the analysis on the answers of the teachers.
4. Methodology
4.1 Case selection
This thesis has focused on primary school teachers in the Netherland; according to the Dutch government, in order to become a primary school teacher, one has to complete a 4 year higher
vocational education in which the teachers specialize in ages from 4 till 8 or from 8 till 12
(Rijksoverheid, 2018). It is important to note that there are exceptions to this rule as some people are able to finish the education in 2 or 3 years based on previously obtained degrees (Rijksoverheid, 2018). The actual definition of a teacher has been taken from the official law that defines a teacher as; ‘’someone within the school who is responsible for the process to teach students on the relevant
school subjects’’ (Staatsblad van het Koningkrijk der Nederlanden , 2017, p. 2). This law provides
some more interesting insights into how the Dutch government sees the responsibilities of teachers;
they carry the responsibility to judge the performance of students; the content of the lectures; the way the lectures are structured and the devices through which they are given; the supervision of
children; contact with parents; and the cohesion of the previous discussed subjects and maintaining their own expertise (Staatsblad van het Koningkrijk der Nederlanden , 2017).
This basic explanation shows the considerable discretion or operational power that teachers have with regards to implementing education policy. Primary education is intended for children with a minimum age of four years old, and the goal is to provide basic education which is the prerequisite for attending high school (Wettenbank , 2018). In the view of this research, primary school teachers are those who are active in primary schools as stipulated by Dutch law, who take in students from the ages of 4 till 12. Furthermore, the law stipulates that the primary schools are responsible for teaching a variety of subjects including; math, languages, history, and geography among other subjects. Primary schools are supposed to teach all students a basic level in terms of skills and knowledge on these subjects. The performance of primary schools is monitored by the Inspection of Education (Staatsblad van het Koningkrijk der Nederlanden , 2017)
13 Primary school teachers in the Netherlands are a suitable case to study policy alienation and its connection to (work) motivation because of the current environment with the general frustration among teachers. One could qualify this as a theoretical case study; this is because any street-level bureaucrat could potentially experience a feeling of policy alienation, but for this thesis, it was necessary that all teachers felt at least some degree of policy alienation or else the connection to motivation could not be explored. The continuing strikes and apparent frustration among teachers was the best opportunity that the researcher had to find SLBs that experience policy alienation. In general, people do not strike without reason and some teachers have vented their frustration through Facebook groups, none of this indicates a lack of work motivation yet the statements about high work pressure does indicate a possible burden on motivation and a general frustration with government policy.
Some argue that the best cases or evidence to observe for a single-case study are ones with high uniqueness and certitude (Toshkov, 2016). However this thesis has not tried to prove or disprove a variety of hypotheses, instead, it explored a proposed mechanism to examine the connection between concepts. This thesis explored a mechanism among SLBs or more specifically teachers; in order to explore this possible connection, the writer had to make sure that the teachers experienced policy alienation in the first place. An theoretical case-study such as this one provided the best opportunity to explore the phenomenon, it needed a case that best fit with the theory of this thesis and the case of Dutch primary school teachers in the Netherlands was the best available. As was explained in the conceptualization and the theoretical framework one could argue that teachers are in fact SLBs, and therefore primary school teachers are suitable for trying to account for SLB
motivation. However, this being an theoretical case study the results are heavily skewed to the particulars of this case.
4.2 Research design
In order to explain the methodology and justify it, it is important to look at the research question of this thesis; which is: How is the feeling of policy alienation connected to the work motivation of
primary school teachers in the Netherlands? This question calls for an in-depth case study; because it
tries to uncover the feelings of respondents which requires them to be able to explain and elaborate their views. Trying to gauge how people feel calls for in-depth questioning which is rather difficult if one wants to compare a lot of cases.
This thesis has used a single-case study to see what mechanisms appear to connect policy alienation and motivation with the help of the concepts discussed in the theoretical framework. Currently, contemporary research has linked the concepts of policy alienation and motivation but has not explored it in depth. This thesis has thus tried to explore possible mechanisms; it did not try to account for the outcome but rather the causal mechanisms that possibly connect the concepts. Single-case studies are appropriate for this task as they allow for greater in-depth research into a case, which allows for more intensive observations allowing the researcher to truly determine how the concepts are connected (Toshkov, 2016).
4.3 Research method
This thesis has used interviews to collect relevant data. Interview data is sometimes seen are merely supplementary to other methods such as surveys; yet Bleich & Pekkanen (2013) argue that
interviews are in fact suitable for a variety of research objectives (Bleich & Pekkanen, 2013). One of the advantages of using interviews is that it allows the researcher to collect data on the experiences and views of people (Xerri, 2018); the research question of this thesis demands data on the feelings
14 and experiences of teachers, and therefore interviews are the best method to collect data. The interviews itself have been semi-structured, semi-structured interviews are the most suitable as they provide broader answers which is important when discussing experiences; however, they also allow for some structure so that the data does not become too obscure (Xerri, 2018). In addition, semi-structured interviews allow for some basic comparison but also provide in-depth information from the individual interviewee (Xerri, 2018); seeing as this thesis has tried to account for a connection and mechanisms both are needed. (Semi-structured) interviews thus seemed to be the best method to collect data in the case of this thesis.
4.3a Trustworthiness of research
This is a qualitative research project and therefore it has several drawbacks which need to be discussed, Krefting (1991) provided some insights into how to assess the weaknesses and strengths of qualitative research noting several times that the usual reliability and validity terms used in quantitative research do not fit with qualitative research (Krefting, 1991). Instead, she looks towards a model by Guba (1981) to assess the trustworthiness of qualitative research. According to Guba, there are four criteria to assess research these are the following; credibility which refers to the degree to which the researcher is confident in the findings of the research. The researcher has taken several of the proposed strategies to ensure credibility as suggested by Krefting (1991). The first being that the researcher has used a limited form of time sampling which entails using different environments to gather information from participants (Krefting, 1991); the researcher has interviewed teachers at their jobs, in their own homes, at a park, and at somebody else’s home ensuring that the interviews were conducted in different environments. The second strategy that was used is peer examination, which refers to examining the research methods used by a colleague or peer to ensure the quality (Krefting, 1991); this was partly done through meetings with the thesis supervisor and sending the interview guide to a scholar who has published articles on the concept of policy alienation. The third and last that was used was interview techniques to ensure the interviews had structural coherence (Krefting, 1991); this was done by repeating questions, reframing questions and asking about the experiences of others (colleagues).
The second criterion is transferability, which deals with the ability to generalize the findings to other research which is limited in qualitative research due to the lack of controlling variables, however this thesis does have theoretical transferability. The writer has only taken a limited amount of steps to secure the transferability of the results; he has tried to get as much variation among the teachers as he could (considering the limited resources) and provides basic background information on
interviewees (Krefting, 1991). It will then be up to any researcher reading the data to decide whether the findings of this thesis fit with their own research project (Krefting, 1991).
The third criterion is dependability, which is related to whether the findings would be the same if the research would be repeated. The researcher has taken some steps to ensure the dependability of this research by providing information on how the data of this thesis was collected, and providing the complete interview guide; in addition, the peer review also ensures some extra dependability of this research (Krefting, 1991).
The last criterion is conformability, which refers to the results of the research being based on the information of the participants and not the researcher’s own views (Krefting, 1991). This thesis has also taken some steps to ensure the conformability of the research by providing the relevant codes in the findings and analysis section to show how the themes are built, and by providing a detailed approach to the analysis (Krefting, 1991). In addition, the complete transcripts of the interviews are
15 also available on request, and every line of thought in the analysis has at least two statements from different teachers to support the claim.
4.3b Respondent selection
In order to find relevant teachers to interview, the researcher first looked to his own social circle for people who might know primary school teachers. Seeing as the researcher has no official resources and only a limited amount of time it is important that he uses every available source. In the view of the researcher, this method is the most effective; however it is not without drawbacks considering interviewees might have felt pressured to give answers that satisfy the researcher due to their proximity to his social circle. The researcher has countered this by encouraging the interviewee to be as open as possible, and through avoiding asking guided questions. The researcher has used the ‘’snowball’’ technique to obtain additional interviews. This technique refers to using one interviewee as a source for additional interviews, this is often more effective than randomly approaching possible interviewees because the original interviewee can vouch for the interviewer (Bleich & Pekkanen, 2013). However as Bleich & Pekkanen (2013) warn, using this sampling technique is not without risks as it might cause a bias in the data, this is because the original interviewee might only refer to people who have similar views on the issue (Bleich & Pekkanen, 2013). However, in the case of this thesis, this was actually a benefit as teachers experiencing policy alienation are more likely to refer to other teachers who were also experiencing policy alienation. All of the teachers that were interviewed for this thesis either went on strike or supported striking; this increases the possibility that some of them felt policy alienation as striking is a way to show one’s unhappiness and frustration with the current situation. In total this thesis has interviewed 10 teachers from 9 different schools, the following table provides some basic information on all of the teachers that were interviewed.
Teacher Tenure Fulltime/Part-time
Experience Locations Time of interview (min) Marc 17 years Fulltime Multiple
schools
City 70 min
Marise 1 year Fulltime Two schools City 55 min
Li Min 4 years Fulltime Multiple schools
Suburbs 48 min
Marieke 25 years Fulltime Multiple schools
City 75 min
Rene 32 years Part-time Multiple schools
City, Rural 45 min
Deborah 39 years Part-time Multiple schools
City 60 min
Anja 16 years Part-time One school Suburb 59 min
Nini 15 years Part-time Multiple schools
City, Suburb 55 min
Frederique 4 years Fulltime Two schools Suburb, City 58 min
Jose 6 years Fulltime Multiple schools
16
4.4 Translating concepts to interview questions
In this section, this thesis will explain how it translated the concepts discussed in the theoretical framework into actual detectable items. It will lean on the work of previous scholars, those who have worked with concepts before and conducting research with them. This thesis has taken definitions directly from other articles but also used its own interpretation to ensure the workability of the concepts within the confinements of this thesis.
4.3a General policy alienation
The first concept is general policy alienation, more specifically the dimensions of powerlessness and meaninglessness. In this thesis, it has referred to the overall primary education policy in the
Netherlands; the disinterest and inability to identify has referred to the meaninglessness and the powerlessness dimensions. In order to properly detect these dimensions, this thesis has looked at how Van Engen et al (2016) conceptualized these concepts. Since they also studied teachers their perspective provides important insights into how one might detect the dimensions. The complete interview questions and guide are in the annex of this thesis.
Strategic powerlessness: ‘’A teacher feeling that the government drafts education policies without involving teachers’’ (Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, & Steijn, 2016, p. 1091). This could be indicated
by teachers saying that they feel teacher associations are not included in the policy process.
Questions were asked on how teachers viewed their role in the governmental policy-making process and the perceived influence and strength of the unions.
Tactical powerlessness: ‘’teacher stating that the school leader does not involve teachers structurally in designing the implementation of government policies within the school’’ (Van Engen, Tummers,
Bekkers, & Steijn, 2016, p. 1091). Important elements here refer to the involvement of teachers in the broader education policy and how resources are divided between classes, whether teachers feel if he or she has any input. Questions of this dimension mostly referred to the role teachers felt they had in setting school-level policy if they perceived their management to be distanced or exclusive.
Operational powerlessness: ‘’A teacher indicating in an interview that the autonomy during the implementation of government policies is low’’ (Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, & Steijn, 2016, p.
1091). This is connected to the concept of discretion, according to the law; teachers should have significant freedom in deciding what content they will teach, and how their lectures will be
structured. Questions were asked about how teachers saw their current level of discretion, did they consider themselves to be relatively free or heavily restricted in their work. This concept has been slightly altered from the original definition that was used by van Engen et al (2016) because of the need for autonomy. This thesis thus looked purely at the how the teachers saw their level of discretion (a little or a lot) to detect this component, and not whether this was too low/high or if it was good or bad.
Societal meaninglessness: ‘’A teacher stating in an interview that contemporary education policy is, in their opinion, not contributing to socially relevant goal of educating children ages from 4 till 12 and preparing them for high school’’ (Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, & Steijn, 2016, p. 1091). Teachers
are likely to agree that their work of educating children is meaningful, yet they could indicate that education policies might interfere with their ability to provide quality education, and again not whether this was something good or bad. This dimension had questions that mostly referred to
17 whether teachers felt if the government policies helped them in providing education to pupils or if they interfered.
Client meaninglessness: ‘’A teacher noting that, overall, contemporary education policy has
detrimental effects on their own students’ wellbeing’’ (Van Engen, Tummers, Bekkers, & Steijn, 2016,
p. 1091). In order to detect this dimension, the researcher has asked questions if the teachers feel as if the government takes the well-being of their pupils into consideration when creating government policy.
4.3b Work motivation
This thesis has focused on intrinsic motivation as defined by Gagné & Deci (2005) ’Intrinsic
motivation involves people doing an activity because they find it interesting and derive spontaneous satisfaction from the activity itself’’ (Gagné & Deci, 2005, p. 331); this is because this concept refers
to the pleasure that teachers derive from teaching and their work in general. This thesis has put a special focus on trying to derive whether teachers indicated if they still feel as if the activities they have to do for their job provide them with satisfaction. Central themes here have been asking if teachers enjoy their work, this detects intrinsic motivation because tasks that bring satisfaction are often done out of personal interest in them, something that provides individuals with satisfaction is motivating (Gagné & Deci, 2005). Identifying intrinsic motivation by inquiring about the enjoyment or satisfaction deriving from work has been done by other scholars such as Milyavskaya & Koestner (2010); therefore this thesis considers this method to be appropriate to detect levels of intrinsic
(work) motivation. Again this thesis does not seek to distinguish between people who are inherently
more motivated by either intrinsic or extrinsic factors. (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011). The focus was thus on indicators of intrinsic motivation, but the researcher has also asked teachers to reflect directly on their motivation. By asking questions such as how is this related to your motivation, the researcher inquired the teachers’ own perceptions of motivation. For this, it did not use a
preformulated concept but relied on the teachers’ own views of what motivation entails.
4.3c Social determination theory
It is also required to properly conceptualize the SDT’s needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, Thøgersen-Ntoumani (2011) defined the need
for competence as: ‘’the degree to which individuals feel effective in their ongoing interactions with the social environment and experience opportunities in which to express their capabilities’’
(Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011, pp. 1459-1460). This definition fits this thesis because it incorporates the opportunity aspect, which is important for this thesis. The need for competence refers to the level of competence that a teacher feels; according to the definition provided by Bartholomew et al (2011) this consist of two parts, beliefs in one’s abilities and skills, and the feeling of having the opportunity to utilize one’s skills and abilities. This thesis has not focused on whether teachers feel as if they have the innate ability to properly teach their pupils; instead, it has focused on the desire or needs to exhibit their competency and abilities. In essence, competency with regards to being able to reach the education goals set by the government. The researcher asked follow-up questions usually in the form of, what does this mean for your work, or a similar question, how does this interfere with your work? With these follow-up questions, this thesis
18 tried to uncover any feelings among teachers if government policies interfere with their desire to conduct work and their overall capability to educate students. This was differentiated from the need for autonomy by asking, for example, whether a policy intruded in their desires for freedom
(autonomy) or whether it was more an intrusion on their desire to properly educate their student (competence).
The second dimension of the SDT theory that needs to be conceptualized is the need for autonomy. Bartholomew et al (2011) define the need for autonomy as ‘’the degree to which individuals feel
volitional and responsible for their own behavior’’ (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, &
Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011, p. 1459). Bartholomew et al (2010) then asked questions regarding freedom of choice as a way to measure autonomy. Milyavskaya & Koestner (2011) asked questions regarding the freedom to express opinions and ideas (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011). The definition used in this thesis as defined in the theoretical framework has the element of the freedom of choice and behavior, and the support of one’s actions. However, the definition of Bartholomew et al (2011) also has the factor of feeling responsible for one’s actions. This thesis has focused on the desire or
need to voice opinions, ideas and the feeling of having choices. The concept of powerlessness and
autonomy are related concepts but are used differently; powerlessness is related to the amount of influence or freedom that a teacher currently feels she or he has. The need for autonomy is in this thesis more focused on the desire for and need of having this freedom or influence. Powerlessness thus is more about the perceptions of teachers on the status-quo and not whether the teachers felt negative or positive towards it; while the need for autonomy is about their desire for this freedom itself and the importance of it. For example, the researcher first asked the views of teachers on the current feelings of powerlessness, whether they indicate feelings of powerlessness, afterwards the researcher has asked how they felt about this lack of opportunity to voice opinion and ideas etc. It is important to state that this thesis has focused exclusively on the work of teachers; this autonomy could refer to a lot of elements including one’s personal life. In order to detect this concept, the researcher has asked questions about how much importance teachers attributed to the feeling of freedom in their work and their desires for it.
The third and last dimension of the SDT theory that needs to be conceptualized is the need for
relatedness. In their article Milyavskaya & Koestner (2011) defined the need for relatedness as; ‘’ reflects feelings of closeness and connection in one’s everyday interactions’’ (Milyavskaya & Koestner,
2011, p. 387). In order to measure it, they ask questions whether people feel that other people in their social domain care about them (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011). Bartholomew et al (2010) however define this need as the extent to which individuals feel a secure sense of belongingness and connectedness to others in their social environment (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011, p. 1460). Both articles ask questions about the support, approval, and acceptance from a particular social circle such as a class or sports teams (Milyavskaya & Koestner, 2011; Bartholomew et al, 2011). This thesis has focused on the desire or need to feel connected and
having good bonds in one’s (professional) social domain. The researcher has asked for statements
on; the support, approval, and acceptance coming from students, parents and colleagues; and general statements about the feeling of connectedness to these groups. In order to properly detect this concept, questions such as, how do you relate this to your relationship with your colleagues, student etc. have been asked.
19
4.5a Plan
In order to properly analyze the data this thesis also needed a suitable plan; for this, the researcher looked at Braun & Clarke (2006) and their explanation of thematic analysis. Braun & Clarke (2008) provide a plan on how to conduct a thematic analysis but noted that the analysis is a constant process that usually goes back and forth, and not in consecutive stages (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This plan has six basic steps which are the following; (1) familiarization with the data, which means reading and in the case of this research also transcribing the interviews; (2) generating codes, which refers to creating the initial codes based on the ideas of the first stage, and code as many themes as possible; (3) searching for themes, in this phase the researcher will try to combine the codes of the previous stage into larger overarching themes as well as thinking about the relationship between different themes and sub-themes; (4) reviewing themes, in this phase the initial themes created in the previous phase are reviewed through looking at all the data extracts from this theme and determining whether they truly fit together, also the themes are reviewed through looking at the entire set of data to see whether they are appropriate; (5) defining and naming themes, in this stage the researcher will define what the themes are about and how they are related to the data, each theme will have its own analysis on how it is related to the research question, themes can also be divided into sub-themes; (6) final analysis, this last stage will consist of writing a final analysis that provides the main themes and their meaning, as well as parts of the data to provide a precise and relevant analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006). Lastly, Braun & Clark (2006) argue that the analysis should be grounded in the data but should go beyond providing statements of participants but an actual deeper analysis of the meaning of such statements and themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This thesis will now provide a more detailed explanation of the two most important processes in the thematic analysis, the coding and creating themes.
4.5b Coding
After conducting and fully transcribing the interviews, the researcher started the analysis process by coding the interviews. Coding is an essential step in qualitative data analysis and refers to the process of labeling the data and assigning meaning to the answers provided by the interviewees. Neumann (2013) referred to the following definition of coding: ‘’Codes are tags or labels for assigning units of
meaning to the descriptive or inferential information compiled during a study’’ (Neumann, 2013, pp.
480-481). The first stage of this coding process is sometimes known as open coding (Neumann, 2013); in this stage, however, the researcher coded or colored certain parts of the transcripts that are related to both motivation, or policy alienations and its dimensions. For example, the researcher highlighted remarks the interviewee made about the lack of influence that teachers have in the policy-making process; this thesis can code this under the dimension of strategic powerlessness. So, in essence, this is not open coding, instead, the researcher has used sensitizing concepts. This refers to using concepts that do not have clear definitions and fixed attributes but rather that provide the researcher with some general points of reference when approaching the interviews (Bowen, 2006). The sensitizing concepts laid out in the theoretical framework provide some direction to the research; this is better than using definitive concepts because the interviewees are unlikely to give statements that would include all of the fixed attributes of a concept. In addition, this research has focused heavily on the experience and feelings of teachers, and sensitizing concepts are a method to capture them (Bowen, 2006). Lastly, this thesis does not try and simply confirm the presence of concepts but also explore their connection and the researcher, therefore, viewed that using sensitizing concepts as the most appropriate strategy (Bowen, 2006).
20 After this process was completed the researcher moved to axial coding (Neumann, 2013); in this stage, the researcher has tried to combine different codes with each other and see if they fit. In essence, this refers to checking whether certain codes can be put in more general dimensions because interviewees often use similar words or statements regarding the same subject. This is also called thematic analysis, thematic analysis is used for documenting the experiences of participants and assigning meaning to these experiences; since this thesis tried to analyze the experiences of teachers this seemed the best option (Braun & Clark, 2006). More specifically it employed the realist method of thematic analysis; this refers to documenting the experiences of participants and their reality (Braun & Clarke, 2006). In addition, this research has utilized the theoretical thematic analysis method; in this approach, the analysis is more based on a theoretical background and is thus more focused at a particular aspect of the data which is in this case policy alienation, self-determination theory and its relation to motivation (Braun & Clark, 2006). Lastly, this thesis will not simply look at the surface level meaning of the data but instead will go in depth by connecting it to the theory of interest and therefore this research will look at the latent level (Braun & Clark, 2006).
It is important to note that the analysis is a continues process; however the coding started after the transcription was complete. Both Robinson (2011) & Neuman (2013) recognized that the analysis is continuing process in qualitative research; this is because every new piece of data can influence the analysis (Robinson, 2011; Neuman, 2013). In addition, the main data collection method for this thesis is interviews. It is unlikely that all interviews can be conducted in consecutive days; therefore the coding process will begin directly after the transcript of an interview is completed (Robinson, 2011). In this initial process of coding the researcher is likely to make connections and themes based on the interview that was just conducted; the analysis can then change due to new data from another interview.
5. Findings and analysis
This section of the thesis will lay out the findings and analysis of this research, they are built on the statements of the teachers that indicate feelings of policy alienation or their motivation, and statements on how these two concepts are connected according to them. All of the statements are from the interviews and can be found in the transcripts (though these are in Dutch). This section is divided between 5 different sub-chapters, and all of the chapters deal with one of the dimensions of policy alienation. This thesis will provide examples that indicate that teachers feel a particular form of policy alienation and will also provide statements on if and how this relates to their motivation through exploring and utilizing the SDT. In addition, it will also present statements that contradict the other findings, such as statements by teachers claiming that policy alienation had no connection to their motivation. Each sub-chapter will present a table with different themes that were found based on the coding.
