Abstract
As a member of the Bologna process, Kazakhstan strives to align its education system with European standards. In teacher education, these standards formalise research as the cornerstone of the evidence-based teaching profession. This logic is also emphasised in Kazakhstan’s policies. In response to these policies, universities have introduced research methods courses (RMCs) as a central curricular mechanism for cultivating inquiring teachers. With a focus on their goals, design, pedagogy, and limitations, this study examines how these courses contribute to the development of evidence-based teaching in the country. Drawing upon individual interviews with instructors of RMCs, we found that these courses largely represent symbolic compliance rather than the substantial transformation intended by policy. This policy-practice gap is rooted in teacher educators’ epistemic beliefs and limited research capacity, inadequate organisational support, and broader structural pressures. We argue that a more holistic approach is needed to establish a research-based teaching profession in Kazakhstan.