The Repertory Grid methodology. Investigating the benefits of participating in Erasmus+ Programs as an example of its application

PDF (ελληνικά)
Published: Jan 5, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/hjre.35568
Keywords:
Erasmus program primary education repertory grid teachers
Kyriaki Efthymiou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2532-8060
Michalis Christodoulou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4420-7914
Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: on the one hand it is investigative, where we attempt to explore the representations of primary school teachers about the benefits of participating in an Erasmus+ program, and on the other hand it is methodological, where we present the usefulness of the “ repertory grid” as a qualitative data collection tool. The repertory grid is usually used complementary or collaboratively with narrative or semi-structured interviews and aims to capture the diversity of subjects' perspectives while avoiding the influence of the researcher that is likely to occur in traditional semi- structured interviews. We applied the repertory grid to the research in question in order to highlight its methodological contribution, as neither in Greece nor abroad was there any corresponding educational research on the benefits of teachers' participation in an Erasmus+ program with this tool. The analysis of the results shows that when teachers refer to the benefits of their participation in an Erasmus+ program (elements), as the main benefit they highlight what relates to a cultural context (culture, friendship, traveling-mobility). However, when they discuss the benefits in combination with each other (constructs), so that their elicit representations are made known, they mainly refer to the holistic development of the individual, followed by the relationships-collaboration they acquire during the program, for their teaching and education and then on travel-mobility, culture and professional development. Also, through the research factors were identified that may influence the teachers’ representation of the benefits of such a European program.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Alonso de Castro, M. G., & Garcia-Penalvo, F. J. (2021). ICT methodologies for teacher professional development in Erasmus+ projects related to eLearning. 2021 XI International Conference on Virtual Campus (JICV), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/JICV53222.2021.9600346
Chaib, M., Danermark, B., & Selander, S. (Επιμ.). (2011). Education, professionalization and social representations: On the transformation of social knowledge. New York: Routledge.
Coutinho, C., Santos, A., Baptista, H., Lopes, S., & Pinheiro, S. (2019). Teachers’ Perceptions of Training Received on Game Based Learning and Gamification: Data from an Erasmus+ Project. Στο B. D. da Silva, J. A. Lencastre, M. Bento, & A. J. Osório (Επιμ.), Experiences and perceptions of pedagogical practices with Game-Based Learning & Gamification (σσ. 33–48). https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/62047/1/2019_Book_Experiences_and_perceptions_of_pedagogical_practices_with_Games.pdf
Damkuvienė, M., Valuckienė, J., &Balčiūnas, S. (2015). Impact and sustainability of the Erasmus+ Programme Key Action 1 mobility projects for school education staff. Research report. https://erasmus-plius.lt/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/I-Nacionalin%C4%97-ataskaita_EN.pdf
Engel, C. (2010). The impact of Erasmus mobility on the professional career: Empirical results of international studies on temporary student and teaching staff mobility. Belgeo, 4, 351–363. https://doi.org/10.4000/belgeo.6399
European Commission, & Directorate-General for Education, Y., Sport and Culture. (2012). Study of the impact of Comenius school partnerships on participating schools. Institutional changes and the European dimension: Executive summary. Publications Office of the European Union.https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/ec8ce099-fec9-4563-a1ca-cd4db1b984ec
European Commission, & Directorate-General for Education, Y., Sport and Culture. (2017). Combined evaluation of Erasmus+ and predecessor programmes: Final report: Main evaluation report (Volume 1). Publications Office. https://doi.org/10.2766/945765
European Commission, & Directorate-General for Education, Y., Sport and Culture. (2022). Factsheet: Erasmus+ in Greece in 2021. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2766/635340
Fransella, F., Bell, R., & Bannister, D. (2004). A manual for repertory grid technique. John Wiley & Sons.
Günbayi, I., &Vezne, R. (2016). Opinions of Teachers on Erasmus+ Key Action 1: A Case Study. Online Submission, 7(1), 1–12. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED585213.pdf
Hadley, G. (2017). Grounded theory in applied linguistics research : a practical guide. London: Sage
Hadley, G. (2019). Critical Grounded Theory. Στο A. Bryant & K. Charmaz, The SAGE Handbook of Current Developments in Grounded Theory (σσ. 564–592). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526436061.n30
Jankowicz, D. (2004). The easy guide to repertory grids. Chichester, West Sussex, England; Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Available at: https://studfile.net/preview/460420/#460420.
Karakuş, F., Uyar, M. Y., &Balbağ, N. L. (2017). Determining Teachers’ Educational Needs Regarding School Education Projects within the Scope of Erasmus + Programme. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(11), 32–43. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i11.2653
Kelly, G. A. (2003). A Brief Introduction to Personal Construct Theory. Στο F. Fransella (Επιμ.), International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology (σσ. 3–20). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470013370.ch1
Koulouris, P., Pingel-Rollmann, H., & Sotiriou, S. (2012). Study of the Impact of Comenius Centralised Actions Comenius Multilateral Projects and Comenius Multilateral Networks. Final Report. European Commission, Ellinogermaniki Agogi. https://www.ea.gr/ea/myfiles/File/publications/201903_Impact_study_centralised_actions_Final_report_vF.pdf
Kugiejko, M. (2016). The Erasmus Plus Program as a factor to international cooperation in schools: A case study. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 71(1), 44–52. http://www.scientiasocialis.lt/pec/node/files/pdf/vol71/44-52.Kugiejko_Vol.71_PEC.pdf
Novak, M., Lajh, D., &Štremfel, U. (2020). Elementary and Secondary School Teachers and Youth Mobility in Slovenian Schools. Teorija in Praksa, 57, 1308–1327. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/elementary-secondary-school-teachers-youth/docview/2549057328/se-2
Richter, K., Houde, P. M. A., & Zimányi, K. (2022). The Repertory Grid Interview: Exploring Qualitative and Quantitative Data on Language Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 24(2), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v24n2.95749
Rozenszajn, R., Kavod, G. Z., &Machluf, Y. (2021). What do they really think? The repertory grid technique as an educational research tool for revealing tacit cognitive structures. International Journal of Science Education, 43(6), 906–927. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1891323
Salcedo-López, D., & Cuevas-López, M. (2021). Analysis and Assessment of New Permanent Teacher Training Activities under the Erasmus+ Program from the Perspective of the Participants of Spain in Times of COVID-19. Sustainability, 13(20), 11222. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011222
Ζακόπουλος, Β., & Αγγέλου, Α. (2017). “Συμμετέχοντας στο ERASMUS+ πρόγραμμα με θέμα την αποτελεσματική χρήση των ΤΠΕ στην τάξη”. Διεθνές Συνέδριο για την Ανοικτή & εξ Αποστάσεως Εκπαίδευση, Αθήνα, 23-26/11/2017, 9(6Β), 171–177. https://doi.org/10.12681/icodl.1196
Μανούσου, Ε., & Εκίζογλου, Μ. (2017). Γιατί Erasmus+; Σκέψεις και προβληματισμοί από τη συμμετοχή σε πρόγραμμα ΚΑ1, ERASMUS+: Ένταξη και διαφοροποιημένη διδασκαλία στην Ευρώπη. Διεθνές Συνέδριο για την Ανοικτή & εξ Αποστάσεως Εκπαίδευση, Αθήνα, 23-26/11/2017, 9(6Β), 178–184. https://doi.org/10.12681/icodl.1379
Μπρούτσου, Φ. (2020). Η επιμόρφωση μέσω του ευρωπαϊκού προγράμματος «Βασική Δράση 1/KA1 του Erasmus+» ως μοχλός επαγγελματικής ανάπτυξης των εκπαιδευτικών. Στο Φ. Γούσιας (Επιμ.), Τα Πρακτικά του 7ου Συνεδρίου: «Νέος Παιδαγωγός» Αθήνα, 19 Σεπτεμβρίου 2020 (σσ. 369–377). Νέος Παιδαγωγός. http://users.sch.gr/synedrio/Praktika_Synedriou_07_Synedrio_Neos_Paidagogos_2020.pdf
Χριστοδούλου, Μ. (2022).Η αιτιακή εξήγηση μέσα από τις μελέτες περίπτωσης. Παραδείγματα και εφαρμογές στην εκπαιδευτική έρευνα. Αθήνα: Πεδίο