The Call to Teacher Aegis: Investigating the Relationship Between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Engagement in Reflective Practices and Their Immunity

It is utterly proclaimed that the effectiveness of teachers in their professional roles is deeply intertwined with psycho-emotional constructs such as reflective practice and immunity. Given the notable significance and scarcity of research on the correlation between reflective practices and immunity among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, this study investigated whether Iranian EFL teachers’ reflective practice exhibited a significant association with their immunity. To accomplish this objective, the convenience sampling method was employed to select a group of 204 EFL teachers (78 males and 126 females) from private language institutions across various provinces in Iran. Data were collected through surveys and subsequent interviews conducted with the participating teachers. The correlational analysis revealed significant positive relationships between teachers’ immunity and all reflection subscales, except for critical reflection. The multiple regression analysis further confirmed that metacognitive and cognitive reflection strongly predict EFL teachers’ immunity. Interviews emphasized the contribution of specific subcomponents of reflective practice to teachers’ immunity. These findings emphasized the significance of merging reflective approaches and bolstering immunity within teacher growth schedules. Furthermore, they provided new opportunities to implement positive psychology criteria in foreign language teacher education.