Leadership and Management SIG Newsletter

The case for

language teaching
manager-research:
the dog that rarely
barks in the night
George Pickering makes the case for
managers to engage in research.

I n the Sherlock Holmes story, Silver Blrue,the plot research for managers, LTOs (language teaching
! hing.t onthe 'curious incident ofthe doginthi organisations) and the ELT sector in general;
I nisfirtime': . to propose some institutional and ELT sector wide
I Cr""go.y (detective): 'Is there any other point to developments that might promote more and better
which you would wish to draw my attention?' manager research.
Holmes: 'To the curious incident of the dog in the night-
time.' What do we mean by research?
Gregory: 'The dog did nothing in the night-time.' Bassey (1990: 35) defines research as "Systematic,
Holmes: 'That was the curious incident.' critical and self-critical inquiry which aims to contribute
to the advancement of knowledge."
It is hard to notice what isn't there, but it occurred to me
quite recently that there is very little research conducted This general definition applies to research in any
by ELT managers rather than management research knowledge domain carried out by any group ranging
carried out by researchers. The lack ofmanager research, from full-time researchers to practitioners. This leads to
research carried out by practising managers, is hardly the next question ...
surprising as many managers do not receive formal
research training, general ELT management books and
courses rarely cover this topic and many managers
What do we mean by practitioner
complain, when asked, that they simply don't have the research?
time to conduct it. Practitioner research has been referred to with some
frequency in the ELT literature largely in relation to
My own passion for manager-research, as a form of research conducted by teachers. Allwright & Hanks
practitioner research, has been partly stimulated by (2009: 172) highlight some of the salient aspects:
supervising managff participants on DELTM and
IDLTM management courses who, as part of their 'Practitioner research involves two conceptually distinct
course requirements, have to carry out either action processes: taking action for understanding, and taking
research or project management assignments. These action for change.' They give as an example action
participants have managed to produce in many cases research which 'starts out with an intention to change in
excellent research with a relatively limited amount of order to solve a problem, or ...to introduce an
time and support. Two other sources of motivation are innovation."
the work done by Simon Borg, Richard Smith and others
to stimulate teacher-research and the need for more copy What do we mean by language teaching
for this Newsletter! manager-research?
My own proposed working definition, adapted from
The main aims of this article are: Borg's (2013: l0) definition of teacher research, would
be:
o to provide a working definition of what manager-
research might be; "Systematic enquiry, qualitative and/or quantitative,
. to put forward some of the benefits of manager conducted by or guided by managers, individually or

lssue Number 46,2015

collaboratively, which aims to enhance the form of research by some, if, and only if, data were
understanding of some aspects of their work or collectively systematically.)
institution. This enquiry is made public, and has the
potential to contribute to better quality management, Other forms of management activities that might be
teaching and learning, at the individual, institutional or considered to need or have a research base would
sectoral level',. include project management, appreciative enquiry, active
enquiry and conducting After Action Reviews.
So what I am proposing here is practical, manager
research that both leads to better understanding AND What are examples of routine language
contributes to better management and other institutional
practices. I would argue that this type ofaction-oriented
teaching manager research?
Managers use research tools and techniques, to some
research would fit in with the predispositions and
extent or another, to conduct various management
routines of managers and would be most likely to be
routines and practices including:
supported by LTO senior management.
o Carrying out research into a particular market or
What types of research approaches course type e.g. exam courses
could be built into language teaching o Conducting surveys and focus grcups
management practice, among others? o Reviewing student feedback, analysing trends and
Two types of research spring to mind that, perhaps not recommending action steps
accidentally, include the word 'action' in their titles. o Gathering information to conduct appraisals
o Writing course reports and recommending changes to
I Action research (Burns,2010)
particular policies or procedures
French and Bell (198a: 99) define action research as:
'The process of systematically collecting research data o Benchmarking with other LTOs within chain schools
about an ongoing system relative to some objective, or with external partners.
goal, or need of that system;
Feeding back these data into the system; Having started by arguing that more formal research by
Taking action by altering selected variables within the managers is thin on the ground, as a starting point, let's
system based both on data and hypotheses; look at what is there, no matter how limited it might be.
And evaluating the results of actions by collecting more
data'. What language teaching manager-research has
already been conducted?
As Gill and Johnson (2010) point out action research has o Action research by specific managers to improve some
been used in the social sciences to investigate a wide aspect of your own performance e.g. managing
range of issues and problems from community meetings effectively or to improve some aspect of
development and educational research to organisation their school's systems. For example, Marie McArdle
and management research outside ELT. (2009) carried out an action research project to set up a
teacher appraisal scheme.
2 Action learning (Pedler, 2008)
This approach stems from the work of Reg Revans. o Surveys of managers, teachers. Dan Humm Soriano
Revans' Formula is L: P + Q (learning: programmed (2011) carried out research into CPD in ELT schools
knowledge + questioning insight) and Revans' Law,for in the UK and see articles in this Newsletter by
an organisation to survive, its rqte of learning must be at Johnson (2015) and Borg (2015).
least equal to the rate ofchange in its external
environment. o Dissertations/assignments on ELT management
In one form of action learning small groups (a set) meet courses (English UK DELTM, IDLTM, IH Diploma)
regularly with an action learning facilitator. Most and MA courses. Jake Castaldi's (2015) paper in this
learning sets are made up of peers who work at similar Newsletter on setting up an action research scheme in
levels of responsibility. Set members then choose who his school is based on an assignment for the English
will speak about a particular situation they are currently UK DELTM. Ross Thorburn's (2015) paper refers to
facing. The presenter describes the situation, problem or an assignment done for an IDLTM course delivered in
challenge. Set members ask open questions which help China.
the presenter come to a deeper or different understanding
and so be open to new solutions, attitudes and behaviour o DELTA module 3
changes. The set helps the presenter review their options
Candidates can now carry out research on a
and decide on action. The presenter takes what they have
management topic in this module.
learnt back to their workplace - initiating changes and
trying new ideas or approaches. At the next set meeting
o Leadership and Management SIG Newsletter articles/
the presenter reports on the action they have taken and
website. The LAM SIG newsletter has contained a
their impact. (Action learning might be considered as a

lssue Number 46,2015

 number of articles based on research e.g. Hockley, courses. Many researchers have pointed out the limits
2006. of current decision making (Kahneman 2012;Heath &
Heath 2013). Pfeffer and Sutton (2006a,2006b) have
o IATEFL Research SIG discussion goup emphasised the importance of evidence-based
This group sometimes discusses topics directly related management to avoid trusting your own experience
to ELT management. For example, one in December over research, being swayedby anecdotes and making
2014 discussed research into ELT innovation. decisions according to hierarchy rather than according
to the evidence. (If you ask 'what do you think we
o Books should do?' some people's opinions count for more. If
you start by saying 'what do we know?', or 'what are
The British Council has commissioned a number of
books in recent years that include articles by managers the facts?' then everyone's information should have
and articles relevant to managers. Managing Change in equal validity).
EZI'includes the design, implementation and
evaluation of projects. The Innovaions series also o It sets an excellent example to others. Ifteachers
includes reference to smaller scale projects (e.g. are being exhorted to carry out their own research,
Smith, Connolly and Rebolledo 2014). doesn't it make sense for managers to give a lead by
carrying out their own research?
Before moving on to look at some of the benefits of
manager research, a few questions for the reader ... o It is a pre-requisite for effective experimentation.
Schools and groups ofschools are marvellous places
Questions for experimentation: they should be focused on
1 Have you ever carried out action research regarding learning! It is fairly straightforward to trial different
your own performance as a manager? books, teaching approaches and techniques in different
2 Have you ever completed any training or course on classes. (It is important to know how to do this
how to carry out research? rigorously and at the same time to be aware be aware
3 In general, do managers carry out research in your of the limitations of any research findings).
institution?
If yes, how systematically and effectively? o It is a necessary component of any institution
If no, why not? claiming to be a 'learning organisation'. If you look
4 What do you see as the major benefits of more or at the characteristics of learning organisations
better management research? identified by Garvin (2008) and others (solving
5 What do you see as the challenges for managers in problems systematically, experimenting, learning from
carrying out research? past experience, learning from others, transferring
knowledge), it is hard to see how these activities can
So why wake up the sleeping dog? be conducted without carrying out research.
What are the benefits of carrying out
research for managers, institutions and o It helps create effective communities of practice
and cultures of excellence. Much has been spoken
the ELT sector? about the importance of creating communities of
Some of the benefits include: practice, where expert practitioners exchange ideas
and information. It is argued for these to work
o It helps managers to do better what they are optimally participants should be sharing, among other
already doing. As mentioned above, many things, research findings.
managers already carry out informal research much of
the time e.g. reviewing customer feedback and r It raises quality levels in the sector. It is argued,
carrying out performance reviews. They would be among the outcomes of more and better manager-
helped in doing this with clearer guidelines about research, would be better trained, enquiring managers,
methodological principles, options and pitfalls. carrying out research that aids their own development,
the development of their colleagues and institutions
o It helps managers develop themselves and generally raises standards in the ELT sector so 'all
professionally. Many managers frnd it hard to boats float higher'.
access relevant courses and so self-directed research
might offer them an invaluable source of professional It is very easy to draw up a list of obstacles to manager
development. research similar to those devised for teacher research. A
non-exhaustive list would include:
o Itaids decision making and is an example of
evidence-based management. One of the key o Gaps in manager's skills and knowledge
responsibilities for managers is to make effective o Limited resources
decisions and this is rarely taught on management o Lack of manager motivation

lssue Number 46,2015

o Lack of management time Much can be done at the individual manager level, but if
. Non-supportive senior management we are to effect a step change in the quality and quantity
of manager-research, I would argue that we need to
It is also important to bear in mind the comments made obtain the support and commitment of a number of
by Allwright (1997:368) that 'practitioner-research at its mediating bodies, each of whom could contribute
worst seems to constitute a way of getting research done individually and collectivelyto this initiative. (By
badly and making the process so demanding that it is mediating bodies I mean individual schools, school
patently unsustainable and therefore soon abandoned'. groups, universities, examination bodies, IATEFL
Special Interest Groups, school associations e.g. English
These barriers and comments should be borne in mind so UK, and other interested parties e.g. the British Council.)
that any proposals regarding manager-research, and the
forms it should take, should be realistic and not too I would argue that having one manager carrying out
idealistic. action research has less sustainable impact than a whole
school adopting action research as part ofits CPD
So how does one further the aims of this paper? Two programme. The argument here is also that just as a
ways forward might be: particular research activity carried out by an individual
manager has greater long term value when it becomes
I to carry out more base line research into what manager routinised for them, so research activities conducted by
-research currently exists (I will be attempting to do this schools become more impactful when they are
in 2015); institutionalised ('what we do around here').

2 to look at the conditions for more manager-research to How can we establish a framework for
take place, an approach taken by Borg (2006) when conducting manager research in the
reviewing the conditions for teacher research.
future?
o Conduct research into management attitudes to
What are the conditions for manager research and what is happening at the
management research? moment
(adapted from Borg, 2006) o Create a support group/community of practice
1. awareness: managers need to be aware of the o Establish a working party to take forward the idea of
availability ofresearch and its advantages; language teaching manager-research
2. motivation: managers need to be motivated to begin o Create a directory of language teaching manager -
and complete research;
research
3. knowledge and skills: they need to know how to
o Provide rewards and awards for managers who
carry out small scale research;
conduct research
4. choice: they need to be aware ofthe range of
research topics and the different approaches to o Showcase manager-research in publications and
research and the various tools available; conferences
5. mentoring: research is more likely to take place if
they can be guided or advised by experienced What are the next steps for individual
mentors in their first attempts at research; managers?
6. time: managers should be given time by their This will depend upon the individual's specific working
institution or shown how to make the time to conduct context and the extent to which they have access to
research; supportive communities either face-to-face or virtual.
7. recognition: research should be recognised as an Here are some suggestions to consider:
achievement at the individual, institutional and sector
level; l. carry out your own action research
8. expectations: institutions might make it clear through 2. create a culture/policy/framework for everyone,
job descriptions, CPD policies and inductions that including managers, in your school to do research
managers are expected to conduct research 3. start to make evidence-based decisions
periodically; 4. carry out internal research into student progress and
f . institutional support: LTOs need to encourage achievement
managers to conduct it; 5. trial all new programmes before launching them
10. community: communities of practice with research 6. look for 'bright spots' in your own context
agendas should be available to would-be manager 7. carry out benchmarking activities with other
researchers; institutions
1 l. dissemination potential: there should be channels e.g. 8. join an ELT managers' community of practice
internal seminars, conferences, journals and websites 9. help create a framework for ELT manager research
where research practices and outcomes can be l0.support the creation ofa directory ofELT
spread. management research

Issue Number 46,2015

 Leadership and Management SIG Newsletter
The Ramsgate born philosopher Alfred North Whitehead Pickering, G. (1999) The learning organisation: an idea
refers to human being's three-fold desire: 'to live, to live whose time has come? ELT Management SIG
well, to live better'. The ultimate aim of this paper is to News letter, 27, INIEF L.
help managers to manage, to manage well, to manage Pickering, G. (2009) The learning organisation: an idea
even better. Anyone who would like to become involved whose time is long overdue? ELT Mougement SIG
in this initiative is invited to join me in the journey Newsletter,40, IATEFL
through contacting me at the email address below. Pickering, G. (2012) How do you go from good to great?
Leadership & Management Newsletter, 43, IATEFL.
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Volume 18
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