Barriers and Predictors of Reflective Teaching in EFL Contexts: Relationships between Demographic Information and Reflectivity in Iranian Classrooms

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examined the extent and determinants of reflective practice among 100 Iranian EFL teachers and explored perceived barriers that hinder reflective engagement in classroom settings. Specifically, the study aimed to identify how teachers’ demographic characteristics—academic degree, gender, and teaching experience—predict different levels of reflective teaching and to uncover contextual and institutional constraints that limit reflective engagement. Using a 53-item reflective teaching questionnaire (Larrivee, 2008) and follow-up interviews with 24 instructors, the study investigated how demographic variables—academic degree, gender, and teaching experience—influence four levels of reflection: prereflection, surface, pedagogical, and critical reflection. MANOVA results revealed that teachers with higher academic qualifications (particularly PhD holders) demonstrated significantly greater pedagogical and critical reflection, while less experienced teachers showed higher prereflection scores. Teaching experience was strongly associated with deeper levels of reflection, indicating a developmental progression from routine, surface-level thinking to more analytical and critical engagement. Gender differences appeared only in pedagogical reflection, where female teachers outperformed male counterparts. The qualitative findings identified lack of time, limited motivation, rigid syllabuses, emotional fatigue, institutional pressures, insufficient teacher training, large class sizes, and entrenched teaching habits as major barriers to reflective practice. These findings address a documented gap in Iranian EFL research by empirically linking demographic predictors to reflective depth while foregrounding teachers’ lived constraints. The study offers practical implications for teacher education programs and educational policymakers by emphasizing the need for targeted professional development, curricular flexibility, and institutional support to foster reflective teaching in EFL contexts.