Medios de Pruebas en el Proceso Penal

Positionality may be defined as the position of the researcher within the social context of research (Silva et al., 2016). Researchers generally acknowledge that one’s positionality may affect not only the research outcomes but also the interpretation of the findings. As Temple and Young (2004 in Silva et al., 2016) -explains, an individual’s position within the social context of research and in relation to research participants has a huge influence on the way the individual perceives things within that context. The researcher is currently a primary school EFL teacher in the Gharian district of Libya, which makes me an insider in this research since the researcher is a part of the teaching community. As evidence by this research, the researcher is currently in the process of seeking individual professional development by attending an institution of higher learning.

While the researcher enjoys the role in an EFL teaching job and strives for ways to develop and advance his own professional skills in order to become a better EFL teacher, it is nonetheless acknowledged as a result of the interactions with colleagues in Libya, as well as other non-native EFL teachers met, that different teachers have different reasons when it comes to pursuing CPD programmes with some even choosing to ignore it completely. From a personal standpoint, the researcher has his own personal reasons for participating in CPD, which comes down to seeking to achieve personal excellence.

Given the researcher’s current position as an EFL teacher in the Gharian, Libya, it is clear that the researcher is an insider and that this is insider research. Greene (2014) defines insider research as research where the researcher is also a member of the group/organisation or culture within which the research is taking place. Greene (2014) also notes that a researcher’s position in relation to study participants determines the

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stories that they are given, how these stories are told, and how they interpret these stories.

Considering the researcher’s insider status as a primary school EFL teacher, it is fair to say that the researcher has pre-existing knowledge about the context of EFL teaching in Libyan primary schools particularly in the Gharian. Being a teacher, the researcher also has an idea of some of the factors that influence us to participate in CPD programmes. In this case, for example, a need to achieve a high sense of personal achievement is a major factor behind the researcher’s own decision to participate in CPD programmes.

Insider status was therefore instrumental in assisting in the identification of a relevant issue within the context of EFL teaching in primary schools in Libya. Additionally, it was maintained that, as an EFL teacher in the Gharian district, the researcher is in a better position to understand the issues that most affect EFL teachers and therefore identify a suitable research aim/objective. For example, from experience, the researcher is aware that many primary school EFL teachers in the Gharian district and indeed in Libya as a whole are not adequately trained to teach English. Their inadequacy is often evident in their fluency levels as well as out-dated teacher-centred teaching methods. Knowing this, it was possible to determine that there is a need to encourage primary school teachers in the Gharian Libya to take part in more CPD programmes for the main purpose of improving their fluency and teaching skills. At the same time, being a teacher and having interacted with other teachers, there was prior understanding that people have different motivations for taking part in CPD programmes and also perceive CPD programmes differently. However, knowing that individual perceptions may influence individual decisions and actions, it was felt that understanding the way in which primary school EFL teachers in the Gharian district perceive CPD and its benefits can help to determine how best to present CPD programmes to these teachers.

The researcher’s own insider status as a teacher was also a useful feature in the data collection of this study. Insider researchers often find it easier to access research participants and interact with them in a more natural manner than outsider researchers (Greene, 2014; (Schatz, Angotti, Madhavan & Sennott, 2015). This implies that, due to the fact the researcher was already used to interacting with EFL teachers, he was

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in a position to make interviewees feel comfortable and at ease knowing that they were talking to one of their peers and not merely a researcher who does not understand the practicalities of EFL teaching. Additionally, it was useful in data analysis and particularly in identifying and recognising the themes, which were quite familiar given that they are in the researcher’s line of profession.

The researcher’s position as an insider also brings about certain complexities. Greene (2014) notes that insider research is limited by the fact that since the subject of research may be one that the researcher is greatly familiar with, the researcher may lose objectivity and rely on assumptions and arguments based more on personal experience. Furthermore, the great familiarity may hamper the researcher’s ability to ask what would be considered difficult questions that may result in new or conflicting knowledge. This was addressed by asking open-ended questions in the in-depth interviews with primary school EFL teachers. The open-ended nature of this questions meant that interviewees had the freedom to offer any information they felt was relevant to the question asked. For example, by asking teachers to explain the various factors limiting their understanding of CPD, a wide range of answers was expected; some familiar, others new, all based on the subjective experiences of the interviewees. Additionally, the qualitative nature of the study meant that the interview questions were not fixed which meant there was the freedom to ask new questions and seek out new information if the need to arose.

Lastly, the fact that the researcher is an insider in the EFL teaching community in the Gharian district increases the risk of personal bias particularly in the form of imposing or projecting personal views onto the interviewees (Greene, 2014). Other challenges identified by Greene include power struggles between the researcher and participants especially if they are peers. Considering that this is a qualitative study, garnering personal and subjective views of primary school EFL teachers was important. With this in mind, every interview was begun with a researcher introduction, as well as an explanation as to what would happen in the interview. In so doing, the researcher was established as the controller of each interview. Secondly, to reduce the power distance between the interviewees and the researcher, attempts were made to engage in self- disclosure, where the researcher’s own experiences were sometimes shared with the interviewee. This was with the intention of making them more comfortable and more willing to open up on their own perceptions and experiences.

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Kerstetter (2012) asserts that no researcher can claim to have a complete insider/outsider position; they often meet in a grey area depending on the context of the research. In line with this, it cannot be claimed that the researcher has a completely insider position in the research. This is informed by the fact that, although he works in the same EFL teaching profession as the research participants, every individual has their own experiences and perceptions. In this sense, outsider status is required to ensure that this individual experiences and perceptions are not approached from a ‘collective’ point of view. Playing an outsider role is therefore necessary for separating the researcher’s individual experiences from those of the EFL teachers interviewed for this study; ensuring the independence of interviewees. As Hellawell (2006 in Greene, 2014) notes, researchers should approach research subjects from both the insider and the outsider perspective.

Reflexivity

Reflexivity is normal in a qualitative study and is adopted by researchers to validate their study findings and experiences (Wali, 2016; 2017; Lambert, Jomeen and McSherry, 2010; Kingdom, 2005). It also plays a critical role in the qualitative research process as the researcher consistently reflects on how its own values, knowledge and perceptions shape the research setting thus, impacting the data collection and analysis (Wali, 2016; Lambert, Jomeen and McSherry, 2010; Gerrish and Lacey, 2006). According to Holland (1999) reflexivity is continuous process exploring various avenues to understand and intervene in human, social and phenomenological relationships. Therefore, this work has been aligned with the fact that reflexivity exists before, during and continues long after the completion of the research study. The argument follows that, in most conditions, the catalyst of the study is conceived through a reflective iterative process. Hence, this study strongly follows the personal reflexivity strategy because the researcher has some natural setting experience about the phenomenon under investigation in Libya as a primary school teacher.

Personal reflexivity holds that the researcher’s personal beliefs, values, status, knowledge, attitude and experiences are critically relevant to the success of the study. The researcher’s own justification for making use of the personal reflexivity strategy follows the fact that the researcher has certain personal belief, values, knowledge and

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experiences in the researcher’s 10 years of teaching of EFL in primary schools in the Gharian district of Libya, which the researcher believed to be useful and relevant in helping achieve the aim, questions and objectives of this research.