Revisiting the Research–Practice Divide: Teacher Agency, Institutional Conditions, and Practitioner Inquiry in EFL Contexts
Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1080/1358684x.2026.2704840
- Journal Name: Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education
- Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, MLA International Bibliography, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Education Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Humanities Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Keywords: EFL, teacher professional development, Teacher research
- Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
The gap between the rhetoric of teacher-as-researcher and the daily reality of the classroom remains a significant chasm in English Language Teaching. While modern policy discourses frequently frame the EFL teacher as a proactive ‘knowledge producer’, the lived experiences of practitioners tell a more fractured story. This article reflects on a series of teacher narratives to interrogate the structural conditions that shape, and often stifle, engagement with practitioner inquiry. By looking back at these professional stories, we can expose the persistent tension between an idealised professional agency and an institutional reality marked by depleted time, inadequate training, and a lack of structural scaffolding.