Reflective EFL Education in Iran: Existing Situation and Teachers’ Perceived Fundamental Challenges

Year 2018, Volume: 18 Issue: 77, 129 - 144, 20.09.2018

Mohammad Alıakbarı Maryam Adıbpour

Abstract

Purpose: The significance of reflective teaching has been widely underscored in
the literature. A primary consideration concerning the actualization of teacher
reflection is seeking existing challenges to the approach and planning to
handle them. This study sought to explore the current status of reflective
teaching among Iranian EFL teachers and their perception of fundamental
challenges to teacher reflection. Methods: Adopting a mixed-method
approach, this study took advantage of questionnaire and open-ended survey. The
data were collected from 176 high school teachers. To indicate whether any
significant discrepancy existed between the expected and observed behaviours,
chi-square goodness-of-fit test was run at item level. Concerning

the data collected through the
open-ended survey, the recurrent themes were identified, and the major
categories of challenges, subcategories, and their frequency of being mentioned
were extracted. Findings: The results of chi-square goodness-of-fit test
were statistically significant in 28 items out of 29, that is, there were
significant discrepancies between the expected and observed behaviours in case
of 28 dimensions of teacher reflection included in the instrument. Following
the thematic analysis, five main categories of obstacles were extracted,
including the obstacles relevant to teachers, students, educational system
(macro and micro level), political system, and parents. In terms of frequency,
the categories of educational system and teacher-relevant obstacles were the
first and second most frequently mentioned categories. Implications for
Research and Practice: Indicating an inappropriate situation, the results
implied the necessity for change in teacher education programs and highlighted
the role of the Ministry of Education in facilitating teacher reflection.   

Keywords

reflective teaching, current status, EFL teachers, challenging obstacles

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