An Investigation of the Relationship between Teacher Self-efficacy and Teacher Academic Optimism among Iranian EFL Teachers: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Exploring the role of teacher academic optimism and self-efficacy seems pivotal in teacher education. Therefore, this study was set to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teacher academic optimism among a sample of Iranian EFL teachers. More specifically, the predictive influence of EFL teachers’ academic optimism components consisting of academic emphasis, teacher trust, and teacher efficacy on the perceptions of their self-efficacy constituting student engagement, instructional practices, and classroom management was examined. In so doing, a total of 335 Iranian EFL teachers were recruited to fill out the measures of teacher self-efficacy and teacher academic optimism. Structural equation modeling was conducted to establish the hypothesized relationships. The results of confirmatory factor analysis on the dataset confirmed the fitness of all the employed measures and the structural model. In addition, inter-variable exploratory correlations were identified using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and path analysis was used to examine the predictive powers of academic optimism factors on teacher self-efficacy. The research findings revealed positive and significant relationships among teacher self-efficacy and teacher academic optimism components. It was also found that academic emphasis, teacher trust, and teacher efficacy could positively predict teacher self-efficacy. These findings have significant implications for practicing EFL teachers, teacher educators, and researchers.