Abstract

In 1999, I embarked on a part-time Ph.D. study to examine the effects of early art education on cultural development in English schools for the blind. This study formed part of a larger grounded theory on the understanding and creation of what are thought to be the visual arts by blind adults and children. The main fieldwork for this study was conducted at RNIB New College, Worcester, and included participant observations, interviews and participant diaries. This article examines strategies involved in developing fieldwork as a full-time teacher in a different school, and focuses on the issues involved in collecting the participant diaries. The article also examines the development, creation and maintenance of relationships within fieldwork, and strategies of reflexive work patterns. In particular, the article examines the nature of the Intimate Journal and the use of Informers to develop part of a grounded theory.