Continuing professional development process: English language teachers’ views on the role of teacher research

Year 2018, Volume: 14 Issue: 2, 61 - 75, 15.06.2018

Sabahattin Yeşilçınar , Abdülvahit Çakır

Abstract

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Continuing professional development process: English language teachers’ views on the role of teacher research
The changing needs of learners drive teachers to improve themselves in terms of professional development (PD). To achieve that, teachers apply to programs such as in-service training (INSET) programs. However, these programs may sometimes fail to respond to the needs of teachers; therefore, “teacher research” (TR) gains importance. A researcher teacher is expected to both engage IN (doing) TR as well as engage WITH (reading) it. Although TR contributes to teachers’ PD, only few studies are available in the Turkish context. Therefore, the current study aimed to reveal English language teachers’ views and practices on TR in the PD process. Twenty-seven English language teachers (19 females, 8 males) working in state schools were interviewed. Data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed via content analysis. From Richards and Farrell’s (2009) list of eleven tools for PD, only workshop was mentioned to be applied for their PD, meaning that teachers adopted input transfer activities although they saw themselves responsible for their PD. Additionally, although the majority of teachers favored the benefits of TR, none of them was found to do research, justifying Borg’s (2006) ten conditions for TR. The findings of the study have implications for English teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, and policy-makers.
Information about Author(s)*
Author 1
Author (Last name, First name)	Yeşilçınar, Sabahattin
Affiliated institution (University)	Gazi University
Country	Turkey
Email address	[e-mail]
Department & Rank	Foreign Language Education
Corresponding author (Yes/No) Write only one corresponding author.	Yes
Author 2
Author (Last name, First name)	Çakır, Abdülvahit
Affiliated institution (University)	Gazi University
Country	Turkey
Email address	[e-mail]
Department & Rank	Foreign Language Education
Corresponding author (Yes/No)	No
Author 3
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Affiliated institution (University)
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Department & Rank
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Author 4
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Keywords

Teacher Research, Professional Development, Teachers' Research Engagement, INSET

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