How Can We Design Data Collection to Explore Children’s Learning?

This chapter shares my experiences of practitioner research, with a particular focus on approaches to data collection. This took place in an English primary context with nine- and ten-year-old pupils and considers my attempts – as both teacher and researcher – to support the development of children’s metacognition in maths. This chapter begins by outlining the context for my research, including my rationale and the issues that led me to explore this aspect of practice. It then focuses in upon the challenges surrounding the exploration of the invisible processes of children’s learning, and describes my approach to data collection, using pupil views templates to enable insight whilst allowing pupils to express their thoughts and experiences in their own words. This chapter ends by offering reflections regarding my own learnings from these experiences, including considerations for data collection for those seeking to engage in similar research in their own settings.