Introduction:
From the 1990s education has increasingly become an economic commodity linked to the development of social capital (Vongalis-Macrow, 2007). To contribute to the preparation of students for a more competitive, cosmopolitan marketplace and attract more international students, an increasing number of universities in Europe and beyond are choosing to deliver their courses in the medium of English. Many of these universities provide ‘pre-sessional’ English language programmes delivered by teachers who come from a wide range of different backgrounds and who have a wide range of qualifications, work, and learning experiences.  As with all university staff there is a need for these pre-sessional teachers to keep their knowledge up-to-date and be aware of new approaches in learning and teaching. Institutions offering in-service professional development for staff aim to improve their knowledge and skills and enhance the quality of teaching. In-service training takes different forms. Some types of professional development may be self-initiated while others will be offered and led by the university. A growing body of evidence suggest for in-service training to be effective, teachers should have more agency in relation to involvement in and decision-making about their own learning (Bredeson, 2003; Leat, Livingston, & Priestly, 2013; Muijs, Day, Harris, & Lindsay, 2004). Yet often the current very controlled environments of education, curriculum and testing is allowing this less and less Vongalis-Macrow (2007).

Objectives:
The analysis of data gathered as part of a larger research study will be presented. The objective is to increase understanding of how the teachers’ culturally different experiences influence their engagement in professional development and their feelings of agency. 

Research Question:
How do personal and professional experiences in different cultural contexts influence teachers’ engagement in professional development?

Theoretical Framework:
Much has been said about the benefits of professional agency in adult learning theories (Mezirov, 1981; Wenger, 1998). However, research concerning teacher agency is more limited, especially in relation to the professional development within a multi-cultural group. Vongalis-Macrow (2007) describes how structures within teaching institutions are changing with globalisation, and she considers how that can influence agency. This paper aims to add to knowledge by exploring the changes brought about by new combinations of multicultural teachers coming together in professional development. Hussain & Bagguley (2015) draw from Archer’s (2003, 2007) and Lash’s (1994) more general research on reflexivity and take it further in their consideration of “reflexive ethnicity” by looking at different perceptions of ethnicity. Rather than agency and choice being the core concepts linking individuals to the wider discourses of ethnicity, they argue it is various forms of reflexivity that provide a better conceptualisation of these relations.  This study aims to offer new understanding by adapting Hussain & Bagguley’s analytical frame to explore the concept of cultural reflexivity with pre-sessional programme teachers who have a wide variety of cultural and inter-cultural experiences. The theoretical framework also draws on Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson’s work (2013) on teacher agency to better understand the heterogeneous culturally reflexive community of teachers who participated in the study.  Teachers’ perceptions of engagement in professional development are explored in a context where teachers are from both developed and developing countries. The teachers have native and non-native relationships with the language taught as well as different work experiences and learning backgrounds.

Archer, M (2003) Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [doi:10.1017/cbo9781139087315] Archer, M (2007) Making our Way through the World: Human Reflexivity and Social Mobility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [doi:10.1017/CBO9780511618932] Bredeson, P.V. (2003). Designs for learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. 2011. Research methods in education. 7th ed. Oxford: Routledge. Guba, E. G. & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (eds). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 105–117. Hussain, Y. & Bagguley, P. 2015. Reflexive ethnicities: crisis, diversity and re-composition. Sociological Research Online, 20 (3), p. 18. Online at:http://www.socresonline.org.uk/20/3/18.html DOI: 10.5153/sro.3776 (Accessed 19.01.2017) Lash, S (1994) Reflexivity and its Doubles: Structure, Aesthtics, Community in Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S. Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Cambridge: Polity Press. Leat D, Livingston K & Priestley M (2013) Curriculum deregulation in England and Scotland - Different directions of travel?. In: Kuiper W, Berkvens J (ed.). Balancing Curriculum Regulation and Freedom across Europe. CIDREE Yearbook, 2013, Enschede, the Netherlands: SLO Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development, pp. 229-248. Muijs D., Day, D., Harris, A. & Lindsay, G., (2004) Evaluating CPD: an overview, In C. Day & J. Sachs (Eds). International handbook on the continuing professional development of teachers. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. Mezirow, J. (1981). A critical theory of adult learning and education [Electronic version]. Adult Education, 32(1), 3-24. (Accessed 19.01.2017) Mertens, M. 2010. Transformative mixed methods research. Qualitative Inquiry. [E-Journal]. Volume 16 (6), pp. 469–474. Available at: DOI: 10.1177/1077800410364612 Accessed 28 March 2016. Wenger, E., (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press. Grix, J. 2010. Palgrave research skills: The foundations of research. 2nd ed. Basingstoke UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Kvale, S. 2007. Doing interviews. Sage qualitative research kit. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Vongalis‐Macrow, A. 2007. I, teacher: re‐territorialization of teachers’ multi‐faceted agency in globalized education (2007)