SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

7.1.2 Input sessions

There were seven input sessions that dealt with the content described in Fig. 7.1:

Fig. 7.1 Input sessions in Oaxaca/97 project

The first two ISs had the objective to inform the participants while the other five
were aimed to teach the learners. The following two sections will deal with each of
these.

7.1.2.1 Informing the participants

The first two sessions were aimed to give the participants all the information I
believed they needed to participate in the project. Basically I thought that they needed to
understand the purpose of the project, its background, the things that I was going to ask
from them and the possible outcomes of the process.

My way of understanding ethnographic research is to look for informed
participation, in which the participant should be informed about everything within the
research situation. Therefore, I told the participants that there were two different general
goals underlying the project. First, one of my goals was for them to fully understand the
way we (SAC learners and counsellors) were doing things at SAC Oaxaca. I also told
them that I was worried about the high attrition rate among SAC users. I remember very
well that I was very concerned about the way I was going to convey this information to
the participants. As I did not want to influence them with my own view, I presented it as
a mere fact, consciously avoiding my opinion about it. The reader will notice that this
was not the case in further interactions.

The other goal, I told the participants, was the very personal aim of getting my

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