ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author deals with a piece of research where methods of social investigation were used to collect data on the social processes of teaching and learning and used by teachers to reflect on their classroom practice. The research was part of a larger sociological study where the author took the role of an 'outside' researcher as opposed to teacher-researcher to examine the participation of adult students in a secondary school curriculum in a community college. The author develops the use of informants' diaries in a second study of Bishop McGregor School where data collection would take place alongside critical analysis and evaluation with teachers. The methodology involved the use of ethnographic or case study methods where diaries that had been written by teachers were used in conjunction with diary interviews. Indeed, a case has been made elsewhere for using diaries and diary interviews together.
