Relationship Between Critical Pedagogy and Reflective Thinking with L2 Teachers’ Pedagogical Success

Abstract

This study first sought to develop a survey (Teacher Critical Pedagogy, TCP) to evaluate L2 teachers’ degree of critical pedagogy. Second, it investigated the relationship between L2 teachers’ degree of critical pedagogy and reflective thinking with their pedagogical success. Third, it explored the extent to which teachers’ critical pedagogy and reflective thinking contributed to their pedagogical success. To these ends, factor analysis with the data collected from a sample of 397 Iranian EFL teachers was used through AMOS software to confirm the validity of the critical pedagogy questionnaire. Then, validated version of TCP, Kember, Leung, Jones, and Loke’s (2000) Reflective Thinking for Teachers, and Moafian and Pishghadam’s (2009) Characteristics of Successful Teachers questionnaires were administered to a sample of 53 EFL teachers and 503 EFL students in language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, to assess the teachers’ critical pedagogy and reflective thinking as well as their pedagogical success as evaluated by their students. Correlational and multiple regression analysis revealed a significant and positive relationship between the teachers’ critical pedagogy and reflective thinking with their pedagogical success. Moreover, critical pedagogy and reflective thinking predicted the teachers’ pedagogical success to a considerable extent. Findings provide implications for L2 teachers and teacher educators.