Research approach

Situated in the Turkish HE PYP context, this study was carried out within an interpretivist paradigm. Given its recognised limitations of being an in-depth study

incorporating a small number of participants, as opposed to a more generalisable positivist study with less depth and larger numbers, an interpretivist paradigm was deemed best-suited to the proposed research. The choice of paradigm also resulted from the worldview of the researcher, who acknowledges the multiple realities of the different national and international participants in this study and their variety of learning and professional backgrounds.

1.4.1 Research aims

This aim of this study is to attempt to uncover the factors that influence multi-national groups of English language teachers’ engagement in PD. To address this research aim, a qualitative research approach is utilised in order to capture the depths and complexities of the multi-national group of teachers with a wide variety of backgrounds in this context.

This study seeks to understand the teachers’ interpretations of their multiple realities and the influences on their engagement in PD in this varied context when interacting as a group, which includes students, managers, and others in the field. A quantitative approach attempting to find generalisable truths would be unsuitable as the complicated nature and nuances of this context would be missed.

1.4.2 Research questions

Arising from the research problem the following research questions have been developed:

Overarching research question

What factors influence international and national teachers’ engagement in PD? Sub-Questions

1. How do teachers’ learning and professional backgrounds influence engagement in PD?

2. How do teachers’ interactions with each other influence engagement in PD? 3. How does the PYP curriculum influence engagement in PD?

The main research question was created with the overarching aim of understanding the areas that can affect teachers’ engagement in professional learning in a multinational work environment, and the sub-questions support this investigation.

1.4.3 Significance of the study

For the first time in such a context, this study explores through the lens of agency an environment in which PYP teachers of multiple nationalities engage in PD. The agency paradigm was utilised to help understand this extremely complex context and bring to light factors that can influence engagement in PD. The discussion on PD in this study draws on social learning theory (Wenger, 2010), adult learning theories (Mezirow, 1996, 1997), professional learning communities (PLCs) (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998, 2010; Stoll et al., 2006; McLaughlin and Talbert, 2007; Levine and Marcus, 2010; Meirink et al., 2010), and empirical research in the field of teachers’ PD, including peer-mentoring (Livingston and Shiach, 2013, 2014).

Research into how national and international teachers engage in PD is significant in global, multinational, and multi-ethnic environments, which are becoming the new reality in many schools and programmes across the world. A better understanding of teachers’ engagement in PD, whether they teach in primary, secondary, or tertiary education, or in other educational settings, is essential now more than ever before, given recent technological advances and the rapidly evolving mobile student and teacher profile. Many 21st _{century students have access to a plethora of information and}

experience, and they are learning in a neo-liberal society that values education as a commodity, and where students often have a loud voice through online and verbal feedback. This new approach to education is often different from what the teachers themselves have experienced and, as such, it is important for teachers to continue learning and adapting their skills in order to understand the changes and facilitate student learning.

However, filling this gap in our understanding does not only apply to informational learning alone (for example, instructing teachers on the use of the latest technology in the classroom environment). It also encompasses transformational learning and PD which may involve requiring teachers to reflect on and confront long-held beliefs and

practices (Taylor, 2008). This can be an uncomfortable process, especially in an environment where others have different learning backgrounds and possibly different beliefs about teaching and learning (Livingston, 2016). Therefore, a better understanding of how to engage teachers in this process will add to researchers’, teachers’, and teacher trainers’ knowledge of how to negotiate a training plan that is both workable and meaningful.

This research will benefit teacher trainers, teacher educators, and teachers (in many disciplines) who work in multinational environments by offering a perspective on how to address teachers’ professional learning needs by understanding their perceptions of what engages them.

1.4.4 Research design and methods

The study takes an interpretive approach, involving the analysis of teachers’ experiences and perceptions in three private universities in the three main cities of Turkey. An interpretivist paradigm was chosen to incorporate the diversity of voices, backgrounds, and opinions to better comprehend the subjective world of human experience. The participants demonstrated a wide variety of qualifications, work, and learning experiences (see Appendix 9, Tables 2–5, pp. 253-254). The research design took a four-pronged approach to data collection, document analysis after which required the teachers to reflect before, during, and after the semi-structured interviews, using different perspectives, in order to develop a deep understanding of the underlying reasons for their engagement. The methods are discussed in detail in section one (see Chapter 3 pp. 71-79).

1.4.5 Research scope

The study was limited to the large cities in Turkey and to teachers of the current lingua franca, English, working in private PYPs at EMI universities. The teachers were responsible for preparing students to acquire a CEFR level B1/B2 in English. The study was of 20 teachers, with a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. The number and make-up of the participants was ultimately determined by those who volunteered from the three EMI universities. The interpretivist approach with document analysis and interviews gave depth to the data analysis.

1.4.6 Data analysis and analytical framework

After the initial sweep of the data, from the emerging themes that were noted, it was decided that the most appropriate analytical framework for understanding engagement was that of agency. Biesta, Priestley, and Robinson’s (2015) model of agency, which was built upon Emirbayer and Mische’s (1998) model, was utilised to understand this complex group of teachers’ perceptions of what can engage them in PD (discussed further in Chapter 2, section 2.7 Figure 2 p.59). This framework acknowledges that actors past experiences and future aspirations can influence the current context that they engaging in work or as in this study formal PD. Biesta, Priestley, and Robinson’s (2015) model of agency demonstrates that the past learning and professional experiences, namely the iterative dimension can interplay with the current context namely the practical evaluative dimension which can be cultural, structural or material. Not only will the present interplay with the past bust also the future, projective dimension which can mean possible future short-term and long-term circumstances. The first sweep of the data presented an overlap of themes that from the participants past and future influencing the current space of the PYP departments and as such the agency paradigm seemed an appropriate choice.