Abstract
The current study aimed to verify the multidimensional factor structure of teacher reflection and to examine the psychometric properties of a widely used teacher reflection scale using a large-scale representative dataset of 1,611 practicing Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Furthermore, the measurement invariance of the hypothesized, a priori six-factor model of teacher reflection as measured by the adapted scale was assessed across gender and educational degree in Mplus program. In addition, the differences in latent factor means of the same groups were examined. The result of confirmatory factor analysis revealed that teacher reflection was a multidimensional construct, encompassing six underlying factors. Overall, the adapted teacher reflection scale based on the 6-factor model showed an overall good fit. The results also indicated metric and scalar invariance which manifests that the factors underlying the adapted scale had an identical theoretical structure across educational degree/gender groups. Finally, there were significant factor mean differences in reflection components across gender and educational degree groups. A discussion of the results and their implications ensue.
Highlights
As positive psychology (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) gained momentum in educational fields, second language (L2) researchers have legitimized the investigation of positive emotions in the field of L2 learning (Elahi Shirvan et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2021)
In spite of the numerous references made to teacher reflection in English Language Teaching (ELT) as a critical education movement, which should be favored in development programs of teachers (Jay and Johnson, 2002; Farrell, 2006, 2007, 2015), few empirical studies have investigated the efficacy and viability of reflection for ELT practitioners
The measurement invariance of the hypothesized, a priori six-factor model of teacher reflection as measured by the adapted scale was assessed across gender and educational degree
Summary
As positive psychology (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) gained momentum in educational fields, second language (L2) researchers have legitimized the investigation of positive emotions in the field of L2 learning (Elahi Shirvan et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2021). The widely used reflection scale in second language (L2) pedagogy is that of Akbari et al (2010), which proposes a six-factor model for reflective teaching based on which a 29-item inventory for measuring reflection was developed and validated. They proposed a six-factor model of reflective teaching comprising practical, cognitive, meta-cognitive, affective, critical and moral reflection. Given the significant role of moral dimension of teacher reflection (Hansen, 1998; Akbari et al, 2010) and the necessity of replication studies regarding instrument validation, further studies are deemed legitimate to quantify L2 teacher reflection more effectively and to refine the factor structure of the proposed model more appropriately
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