Investigating the Relationship among Professional Development, Reflective Teaching, Self-Efficacy, and Job Performance of Iranian EFL Teachers

The present study investigated the relationship between professional development, reflective teaching, self efficacy and job performance of Iranian EFL teachers. To this end, 150 advanced Iranian EFL teachers completed three Likert-scale questionnaires, English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory developed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, and Dadvand (2010), Iranian English Teacher Professional Development Needs Questionnaire developed by Soodmand Afshar and Doosti (2017), and Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001). In addition, 550 advanced Iranian EFL learners of the same teachers completed a Likertscale questionnaire, Successful Iranian English Teacher Questionnaire developed by Moafian and Pishghadam (2009). The results of six separate Pearson Product Moment correlations revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between the EFL teachers’: a) reflective teaching and their job performance, b) self-efficacy and their job performance, c) attitude toward professional development and their job performance, d) self-efficacy and their reflective teaching, e) selfefficacy and their attitude toward professional development, and f) reflective teaching and their attitude toward professional development. Additionally, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated that Iranian EFL teachers’ self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of their job performance. Furthermore, the results of four separate Independent Samples t-tests indicated no significant differences between the male and female Iranian EFL teachers regarding reflective teaching on the one hand and their self-efficacy on the other hand. However, significant differences were found between the male and female Iranian EFL teachers concerning their job performance on the one hand and their attitude toward professional development on the other. Moreover, the results of qualitative data analysis showed Iranian EFL teachers maintained that teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, professional development, and reflective teaching could lead to their better job performance.