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

Abstract

Purpose: The significance of reflective teaching hasbeen widely underscored in the literature. A primaryconsideration concerning the actualization of teacherreflection is seeking existing challenges to theapproach and planning to handle them. This studysought to explore the current status of reflectiveteaching among Iranian EFL teachers and theirperception of fundamental challenges to teacherreflection. Methods: Adopting a mixed-methodapproach, this study took advantage of questionnaireand open-ended survey. The data were collectedfrom 176 high school teachers. To indicate whetherany significant discrepancy existed between theexpected and observed behaviours, chi-squaregoodness-of-fit test was run at item level. Concerning the data collected through the open-ended survey, the recurrent themes were identified, andthe major categories of challenges, subcategories, and their frequency of being mentionedwere extracted. Findings: The results of chi-square goodness-of-fit test were statisticallysignificant in 28 items out of 29, that is, there were significant discrepancies between theexpected and observed behaviours in case of 28 dimensions of teacher reflection included inthe instrument. Following the thematic analysis, five main categories of obstacles wereextracted, including the obstacles relevant to teachers, students, educational system (macroand micro level), political system, and parents. In terms of frequency, the categories ofeducational system and teacher-relevant obstacles were the first and second most frequentlymentioned categories. Implications for Research and Practice: Indicating an inappropriatesituation, the results implied the necessity for change in teacher education programs andhighlighted the role of the Ministry of Education in facilitating teacher reflection.