Tag: themes

How to identify themes in a module/chapter/study block, using a form of thematic analysis

Melanie RimmerLeave a comment

This is a useful study activity that gives you an overview of a block of study material such as a chapter or a study week. It’s a critical, analytical approach to identifying overarching, cross-cutting themes. It will help your deeper understanding of the material you are studying. It can help your reading by focusing your intention on the important recurring ideas and avoid getting lost in the nitty-gritty details. It can help your note-taking, for example you can use the themes as the basis for a mind map or a table. It can help your essay writing by identifying the big picture, and practising the skill of spotting how disparate parts of the module can all relate to the same question. I’ll use Block 2 of the Open University module E232: Exploring Childhood and Youth as an example, but you can use this process on other texts.

First, I cut-and-pasted the Learning Outcomes from the first page of each study week into a document.

Week 8: Space, Place, and Belonging • understand the concepts of ‘space’ and ‘place’ • understand how children make places • consider different ways that children’s geographies can be researched • consider the concept of ‘belonging’ • consider the impact of migration on children and young people’s lives. Week 9: Everyday violence in everyday spaces • recognise the importance of space in children and young people’s lives • critically discuss the idea of everyday violence and its impact on children’s lives in Bangladesh, the UK and elsewhere • critically analyse the idea of children ‘out of place’ • interrogate different understandings and images of children and young people who live or work on the street • explore the links between everyday places and everyday experiences of violence. Week 10 (current week): The politics of play • understand some of the key issues and ideas that surround the concept of play • be able to explain a variety of theoretical lenses which can support a critical examination of play issues for children and young people • be able to critically analyse your own thinking and assumptions about play • have developed an understanding of children and young people’s rights regarding play. Week 11: Critical perspectives on schooling • understand a variety of different perspectives on schooling • appreciate the difference between formal learning and informal learning • understand the concept and importance of ‘children’s voice’ and the role it plays in contemporary education settings in the UK • be able to critically discuss schooling as a diverse practice which is potentially transformational for many children and young people and yet challenging and oppressive for others.

Next, I looked for words, phrases, or ideas (i.e. themes) that occurred in more than one study week. The first one I noticed was “space and/or place”. I highlighted every sentence that included one of those words. I chose green for this theme.

The same text as before, but certain phrases are highlighted in green ie. • understand the concepts of ‘space’ and ‘place’ • understand how children make places • recognise the importance of space in children and young people’s lives • critically analyse the idea of children ‘out of place’ • explore the links between everyday places and everyday experiences of violence.

Then I looked for more recurring words, phrases, or ideas i.e. themes. I gave each theme its own colour. Some sentences contained more than one theme. Because I know that all of these sentences have been identified as important by members of the course team, I made sure every sentence was coded with at least one theme.

The same text as before, but now every bullet point is highlighted in a variety of colours. E.g. the following phrases are highlighted in pink: • consider the impact of migration on children and young people’s lives. • critically discuss the idea of everyday violence and its impact on children’s lives in Bangladesh, the UK and elsewhere • have developed an understanding of children and young people’s rights regarding play. • understand the concept and importance of ‘children’s voice’ and the role it plays in contemporary education settings in the UK

Finally, I made a list of each theme and associated ideas, drawn only from the text of the learning outcomes

This text highlighted in green "Space/place, places are made, importance to children’s lives, being in and out of place, links between places and violence" This text highlighted in dark blue: "Children as active agents, children’s voices, the diversity of children’s experiences" This text highlighted in red: "Critical thinking" This text highlighted in light blue: "Research, methods, theoretical lenses" This text highlighted in pink: "Applications, migration, rights, pedagogical practices"

This isn’t the only possible set of themes that can be identified from this list of learning outcomes. Different people doing the same analysis will probably identify different themes. That’s OK. There may be other important themes in the learning material that aren’t mentioned in the learning outcomes. The point of this process is to identify some themes, not to identify the themes. This is because there isn’t one true and correct answer to “what are the themes in this study block”?

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