Great idea but just no time: Teachers views of research and its role in their professional lives Simon Borg Centre for Language Education Research School of Education University of Leeds Workshop given at IH Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 2006

Insights from Education In UK, large investment in research on teachers involvement in research. In UK, large investment in research on teachers involvement in research. Studies of teachers views of research suggest these equate with scientific models. Studies of teachers views of research suggest these equate with scientific models. Teachers acknowledge the value of doing research. Teachers acknowledge the value of doing research. Teachers do not feel that their working conditions support their involvement in research. Teachers do not feel that their working conditions support their involvement in research.

Insights from Education More recent work has focused on research- engaged schools rather than individual teachers. More recent work has focused on research- engaged schools rather than individual teachers. Institutional conditions which support teacher research have been proposed: Institutional conditions which support teacher research have been proposed: organisational commitment organisational commitment research-oriented culture research-oriented culture desire to improve quality of teaching & learning desire to improve quality of teaching & learning collaborative working patterns collaborative working patterns

Teacher Research in ELT Theoretical DebateEmpirical Research

What We Dont Know How much teacher research takes place? Where? What are the characteristics of the teachers who do it? What motivates them? What conditions support or hinder their efforts?

Discuss 1.Have you ever been advised or advised teachers that doing research is good or desirable? 2.To what extent has this advice been taken up in practice? 3.What conditions do you feel facilitate or hinder teachers efforts to do research?

10 Conditions for Research Engagement Awareness Choice Mentoring Knowledge & Skills Motivation Resources Dissemination Potential Community Expectations Recognition

Investigating Research Engagement in ELT Why? To understand teachers views about research and its role in their professional lives. Yes, but WHY? To obtain evidence which can inform attempts to increase teacher engagement in research.

Four Questions What conceptions of research do EFL teachers hold? What conceptions of research do EFL teachers hold? How do they rate the research culture of their institution? How do they rate the research culture of their institution? To what extent do teachers say they do research? To what extent do teachers say they do research? What reasons do they give for doing or not doing research? What reasons do they give for doing or not doing research?

The Questionnaire Please spend 10 minutes completing the questionnaire. If you would prefer not to or have already done so, feel free to stretch your legs for a few minutes.

Conceptions of Research 98% of the teachers said this was research A university lecturer gave a questionnaire about the use of computers in language teaching to 500 teachers. Statistics were used to analyse the questionnaires. The lecturer wrote an article about the work in an academic journal.

Conceptions of Research 73.5% of the teachers said this was not research. Mid-way through a course, a teacher gave a class of 30 students a feedback form. The next day, five students handed in their completed forms. The teacher read these and used the information to decide what to do in the second part of the course.

Conceptions of Research 68% of the teachers said this was not research A teacher noticed that an activity she used in class did not work well. She thought about this after the lesson and made some notes in her diary. She tried something different in her next lesson. This time the activity was more successful.

Conceptions of Research Teachers also asked to identify characteristics of good research: The researcher is objective 97.9% Hypotheses are tested 87.5% Variables are controlled 79.2% A large number of people are studied 73.5%

Research Culture Agree (%) Teachers have access to research books and journals 86 Teachers do research themselves 60 The management encourages teachers to do research 52 Teachers talk about research 38 Teachers feel that doing research is an important part of their job. 34 Time for doing research is built into teachers' workloads 18

Doing Research Often22.4% Sometimes38.8% Rarely36.7% Never 2.1% 2.1% Teachers reporting more favourable perceptions of the institutional research culture said they did research more often.

Reasons for Doing Research because it is good for my professional development to find better ways of teaching to solve problems in my teaching because I enjoy it because my employer expects me to

Reasons for Not Doing Research I do not have time to do research my job is to teach not to do research I am not interested in doing research most of my colleagues do not do research My employer discourages it I do not know enough about research methods

Time As a teacher-researcher I've found it extremely difficult to carry out research projects and publish. I just don't have the time. I teach 32.5 hours / week and need to prepare for those classes in addition to work with the teachers' union and our technology committee. It's a shame.

Some Conclusions Teachers held a standard view of scientific research. Teachers held a standard view of scientific research. 61% said they did research at least sometimes. 61% said they did research at least sometimes. 34% agreed that teachers feel that doing research is an important part of their work. 34% agreed that teachers feel that doing research is an important part of their work. 80% disagreed that time for research is built into their workload. 80% disagreed that time for research is built into their workload. There was a significant relationship between views of the institutional research culture and reported levels of doing research. There was a significant relationship between views of the institutional research culture and reported levels of doing research.

And Questions What are the managements perspectives? What kinds of research do teachers do? How typical are these findings? What do sometimes and often mean?

Great idea but just no time: Teachers views of research and its role in their professional lives Simon Borg Centre for Language Education Research School of Education University of Leeds