EFL administrators’ well-being and their professional resilience: Ecological insights for teacher training
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29329/pedper.2025.123Keywords:
Well-being, Ecological perspective, Language teacher, ResilienceAbstract
Abstract
Language teacher well-being has been gaining a growing interest in educational research. This study has specifically explored the well-being of language instructors who had dual roles - as both teaching and administration- within the context of higher education. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study holds an ecological perspective, rooted in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, to explore what contributes to the well-being of administrators of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), and what coping strategies they develop in professional life. By examining the challenges and experiences of these instructors, the research highlights the intersection among administrative responsibilities, teacher well-being, and teacher training. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, and the results were presented through the combination of both deductive and inductive thematic analysis. From an ecological lens, the findings reveal that interpersonal dynamics, institutional alignment, and policy-related factors all interact together to (re)shape the EFL administrators’ well-being at workplace. Also, the findings provide key insights into the complex, multi-layered nature of teacher well-being, emphasizing that professional development programs should not only include professional skills of instructors but also some coping strategies for them to foster their long-term resilience at professional life.
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