The Relationship between Academic Optimism and Reflective Teaching: A Triangulated Study

The present study set out to investigate any significant relationship between reflective teaching and academic optimism. The instruments of the study included the reflective teaching questionnaire devised by Akbari, Behzadpour and Dadvand (۲۰۱۰) and academic optimism scale designed by Beard, Hoy and Hoy (۲۰۱۰). Initially, the researcher piloted the questionnaires on ۳۰ non-participants and calculated their reliability. Then, the two instruments were administered to ۲۰۰ Iranian female and male EFL teachers within the age range of ۲۸ to ۴۸ with different levels of teaching experience. Prior to the administration of the instruments, the researcher briefed the participants on the aims of the study and data collection purposes. Out of the initial ۲۰۰ participants only ۱۸۴ returned the two questionnaires. Therefore, the study could use data only from ۱۸۴ participants. At the end of the study, the researcher also interviewed ۱۰ participants who agreed to take part in the interview sessions voluntarily in an effort to triangulate the findings of the study. The results of the parametric person correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant and positive correlation between reflective teaching and academic optimism. The results of the interviews corroborated the existence of a positive relationship between reflective teaching and academic optimism. The findings of the present study provide EFL teacher educators and teachers with awareness concerning the relationship between the two constructs.

Keywords:

Academic Optimism , Reflection , Reflective Teaching , Triangulation