The relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ leadership, empowerment and their critical thinking

This research attempted to assess the relationship between Iranian EFL teacher leadership, empowerment and their critical thinking. Participants of this study were Iranian EFL teachers filling out three questionnaires (n=۳۷۷).This instrument used in this study were Inventory practice leadership Questionnaire (LPI), School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES), and Critical thinking Disposition Assessment Questionnaire (CTDA). LPI was defined by Kouzes and Posner (۲۰۰۳) in five categories as: modeling the way, inspiring a share vision, challenging the process, encouraging the heart, and enabling others to act. Six factors of SPES were introduced by Rienhart and Short (۱۹۹۲) as :decision making ,professional growth ,status, impact , and autonomy, and three components of CTDA was defined by Ricketts (۲۰۰۳) as :engagement , maturity , and innovativeness. The results indicated that significant correlation was found between total teacher leadership, total empowerment, critical thinking, and their components. Linear regression model indicated that teacher leadership predicted empowerment and critical thinking, too.

Keywords:

Teacher leadership , empowerment , critical thinking