Teachers’ perceptions towards research engagement and its relation to their continuous professional development: case of Algerian University teachers of English

Abstract

This research investigates the perceptions of 12 Algerian university teachers towards research engagement and the perceived relation between their research engagement and their Continuous Professional Development (CPD). The significance of language teachers' CPD is evident in institutional demands for professional development and the growing interest among academics, teacher trainers, and managers in improving CPD models. Previous studies have highlighted the potential impact of teachers' research engagement on their CPD. However, not much research is conducted in the Algerian context regarding language teachers research engagement. Thus, more research is needed to give voice to teachers as active agents in expressing their thoughts on research engagement and its relationship to CPD.

This study emphasizes the importance of understanding the factors affecting language teachers’ research engagement and how teachers’ research engagement contribute to their CPD. It aims to answer the following questions: (i) what are the perceived environmental factors affecting research engagement among the participating teachers? (ii) What are the personal factors that seem to affect research engagement among the participants? (iii) how do the participants perceive the relation between research engagement and their CPD? To address these research questions, I employed a qualitative case study where I relied on online semi-structured interviews with 12 Algerian University teachers of English during the Covid-19 Pandemic. In order to analyse the data, I relied on Braun and Clarke’s (2022) reflexive thematic analysis. To interpret my findings, I used Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological System Theory in addition to the Self-determination theory developed by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan (1980).

The findings reveal that participants emphasize various environmental factors operating at different levels, which negatively affect their research engagement to varying degrees. Therefore, understanding not only the environmental factors but also the interconnections between these factors and the weight each environmental factor carries is crucial before further research engagement can be encouraged. Regarding personal factors, the findings highlight how variations in individual teachers’ motivational orientations can differently affect their research engagement. Teachers who perceive themselves as researchers, lifelong learners, and agents of change tend to orient towards more intrinsic types of motivation, integrating values that align with the importance of research engagement. This intrinsic orientation can lead to sustained research engagement and mitigate some of the environmental barriers. Furthermore, the data emphasizes the need for a more dynamic characterization of teachers’ research engagement, considering the challenging environmental factors and accounting for its impacts on teachers, students, institutions, and the wider community. Strict adherence to rigid academic standards may misrepresent the efforts made by university teachers in specific contexts.

The originality of this study lies in its novel approach to exploring a group of language teachers' research engagement by integrating two psychological theories inspired by the data. It focuses on perceived environmental and personal factors influencing language teachers' research engagement while also amplifying the voices of university teachers on the teaching-research nexus. This thesis provides a detailed examination and hierarchization of the environmental factors influencing language teachers' research engagement and how teachers' motivational orientations can help mitigating some of these factors to facilitate research engagement.

The study concludes that institutions striving to increase research engagement among language teachers should dedicate serious efforts to improving the environment surrounding teachers. Teachers, in turn, need to reflect on the sources of their motivation and integrate values that align with research. Additionally, they need to cultivate a proactive mindset, which is crucial, particularly in cases where the environment is not conducive to research engagement. This study also underscores the need to reconsider the teachers’ research engagement concept within the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) framework. Thus, it proposes a continuum to characterize language teachers’ research engagement at the university level. Finally, the current study suggests a two-dimensions model that can help predict the potential impact of the intersection between the varying environmental conditions and the different motivational orientations among the individual language teachers on research engagement. Thus providing a heuristic device for teachers, researchers, and the wider academic community to reflect upon the existing conditions within their contexts and make informed decisions on potential effective interventions to maximize a meaningful contribution of teachers’ research engagement to their CPD.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English