A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

87 
| Where do I go from here?
9.4 Joining wider communities
Here are some further advantages of sharing your 
research. These involve the fact that, when you publicise 
your research, you are joining a wider community as a 
presenter or writer:
■
■
You can meet other individuals interested in similar 
questions. You can discuss and share your challenges 
and also learn from others about how to research more 
effectively.
■
■
You may gain opportunities to become a mentor for 
other teacher-researchers, developing your capabilities 
as a leader and ‘teacher educator’.
■
■
You can make useful contacts, for example with 
representatives of universities, agencies or networks 
which will provide you with further opportunities, due
to sharing your research.
Teachers Research! Facebook group
There are a number of communities active online that are 
involved in teacher-research for English language teachers. 
A relevant community for you would be the Teachers 
Research! group, which is dedicated to all types of teacher 
research, including Exploratory Action Research, but also 
‘Exploratory Practice’ and more formal classroom-based 
research: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/
teachersresearch/
You can also join communities or networks which support 
the sharing and promotion of teacher-research in your own 
country. Many of the Champion Teachers in Chile did this by 
joining RICELT (the Network of Chilean ELT Researchers) and 
participating in their conference as presenters.
Finally, 
Electronic Village Online (EVO) on classroom-based 
research for professional development
EVO is a voluntary community, active in January–February 
each year – that has provided online teacher education 
programmes for free to teachers from around the world.
In recent years, the EVO on classroom-based research for 
professional development has been supporting teachers 
through Exploratory Action Research: 
http://classroombasedresearch.weebly.com/
Champion Teachers at the first RICELT conference
In this chapter we have already provided the names of 
several networks and communities where you can both 
share your research and learn from others. Below we list 
some further, mainly international, communities and 
groups. However, the most useful and rewarding groups
to participate in are often local or national associations
or groups, where you can interact with teachers who
share similar challenges to you.
IATEFL
Originally started in the UK in 1967, IATEFL (the 
International Association of Teachers of English as a 
Foreign Language) has grown to be an international 
organisation. It organises webinars and a web-conference 
each year, and a main conference which takes place in the 
UK. It also has a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), 
including the IATEFL Research SIG and Teacher 
Development SIG, which you are likely to find of great use.
IATEFL website: 
https://www.iatefl.org/
IATEFL Research SIG website: 
http://resig.weebly.com/
IATEFL Teacher Development SIG website: 
https://tdsig.org/
IATEFL also has national affiliates in many countries.
TESOL
Started in the USA in 1966, TESOL (Teachers of English to 
Speakers of Other Languages) International Association, 
like IATEFL, has become global, with regular regional 
seminars and a main conference in North America each 
year. While many of its ‘Interest Sections’ are similar to 
IATEFL SIGs, it does not have an interest section specifically 
devoted to teacher-research. 
Website: 
http://www.tesol.org/

---