ABSTRACT

After an initial week settling into my university accommodation, I set about drawing up a list of possible interviewees I would approach with a view to asking if they would be interested in telling me their life history. During my first research visit to Grahamstown in 2003, I had met, and immediately liked, Hennie, who was a senior professor of education. He agreed immediately to an interview. We set up a day and time, and I took a decision that all interviews – I hoped to conduct at least two interviews with each interviewee – would be carried out at their place of work. During my first week, I had found a young Afrikaans teacher who was also an experienced transcriber, and she agreed to transcribe the interviews as I proceeded.