Teachers’ Views on Leadership and Management in Higher Education EFL Contexts: A Qualitative Investigation in Türkiye
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Abstract
Leadership and management have long been recognized as pivotal constructs within educational research. Despite the substantial body of research highlighting their prominence in educational contexts, relatively few qualitative studies have explored EFL teachers’ perspectives on leadership and management in higher education settings. The present study is important since it addresses a significant gap in existing research by focusing on the issue from the perspectives of EFL teachers. The participants of this study are EFL instructors (12 females and 3 males) who work in the school of foreign languages in different university contexts in Türkiye. The data were gathered through an open-ended survey and a focus group discussion. The findings of the study reveal that all the participant EFL teachers have diverse perspectives about leadership and management depending on their contexts, qualifications, backgrounds, experiences, and the administrative guidance that they received. Even the teachers who work in the same contexts have different views and perceptions about the issue. It also shows that most of the participating EFL instructors are aware of the importance of teacher leadership, management and empowerment, even though some of them limit the dimensions of these concepts to their classroom only, rather than approaching it from a broadened perspective.
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