Had my first opportunity to talk to Pauline since she returned from India. She is supportive of my religned proposal (toward a social cultural approach) but like Sugata suggests that a pilot study related to the monitorial method could provide additional material for thesis. Sugata also suggested that if children are making progress within a CSCL environment, they could then be offered the opportunity to focus on a specific areas of learning i.e literacy through a phonics programme taught by the monitorial method.

In view of the significance of context, we have agreed that it is appropriate to assess the perceptions of the children with regards to their needs. The questionnaire format is not deemed appropriate in this context as the form of the questions would evitably be leading. Therefore the objective setting process will be guided by an informal set of focus group interviews asking what knowledge children want to learn and how they want to learn it i.e. a new learning environment (as opposed to school) is to be created, what do you want from it? Drawings could also be used a a means of promoting child voice and determining requirements.

This activity could commence in the relatively near future and will be used to guide the subsequent research process. In terms of short term objectives, I need to research focus group interviews with children and children’s voice.