A Socio-cultural Development of Iranian EFL High School Teachers through Reflection on Critical Incidents

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Objectives: Public schools are viewed as a crucial and integral component of the educational system due to the diverse student population they serve. The objective of this study is to analyze significant incidents in English classrooms and explore the socio-cultural growth of English language educators in public schools. For this purpose, establishing a preparedness plan for examining the critical conditions of each class and school requires a specific guideline to be implemented. This plan should include items such as educating students, teachers, and school staff on how to behave in crisis situations, communicating with students' parents, providing security facilities in educational environments, as well as obtaining emergency and necessary equipment. Additionally, proper and timely communication in case of a critical incident is very vital. Crisis events can also be an opportunity to enhance collaboration and interaction among different members of the educational environment. In these circumstances, students, teachers, and school administrators are obliged to collaborate and coordinate more effectively for crisis management. This collaboration can help improve the strengths of the educational environment and enhance preparedness for facing critical incidents. Throughout this process, the role of managers and educational authorities is crucial. They are responsible for creating a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff. To achieve this, training for teachers and staff in safety skills is of great importance. Additionally, educational authorities must periodically review and update their emergency plans and specific programs.
Materials and Methods: The research method is qualitative and Public schools are considered as a rich source of critical incidents due to demographic varieties. After establishing several communities of practice Becker (2023), the researcher visited 10 public high schools in Tehran, Iran. English classes, their teachers and its students were the target of this study. Teachers’ and students’ narratives collected through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews were analyzed using theme methods analysis, accordingly researchers collected opinions and statements from teachers and students through questionnaires and storytelling, utilizing scientific journals and semi-structured interviews as their primary sources of data collection. This approach allowed them to gather a diverse range of perspectives and insights on the subject matter. By incorporating qualitative methods, researchers were able to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, capturing in-depth narratives. Additionally, the use of semi-structured interviews enabled researchers to delve deeper into the thoughts and experiences of participants, allowing for a more nuanced analysis of the data. Overall, this methodological approach provided a rich and detailed exploration of the views and experiences of teachers and students, enhancing the depth and breadth of the research findings. 
Discussion and Conclusions: The results of narratives analyses indicated teachers’ dissatisfaction with a large number of critical incidents in their classes. Moreover, majority of teachers considered critical incidents as native while some positive incidents were also reported. Teachers believed that Iranian public high schools are a rich source of critical incidents. A large number of critical incidents were reported in the present study. The innovative path in the present study was including students’ conceptions of critical incidents. Students’ reported several themes as the reasons for critical incident: teachers’ language proficiency, teachers’ classroom management abilities and students’ (mis)behaviors. The results of this study provided insightful ideas on the most routine practices in Iranian high schools.     

Keywords

References

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