Breaking Barriers: Gender, Experience, and Self-Regulated Strategies in the Practices of Iranian EFL Teachers.

Teachers’ lack of self-regulatory behavior might negatively affect their professional development and student performance. This mixed-methods study attempted to investigate whether there is any difference between novice and experienced teachers’ perceptions and use of self-regulatory strategies in light of gender and teaching experience. In the quantitative phase, 120 EFL teachers from Iranian language schools were recruited through convenience sampling and surveyed with Teacher’s Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Capa‐ Aydin, 2009). In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 teachers with varying teaching experiences, including both genders to examine their practices and perceptions toward self-regulation strategies. Then, the participants were placed into different groups based on their gender, experience, and perceptions toward self regulation strategies. Afterward, the teachers were grouped into the novice and experienced. The researchers also conducted 10 classroom observations of five teachers through a checklist to see whether teachers applied the self-regulation characteristics in their practice. The results of the first phase indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between novice and experienced teachers in their perceptions and use of self-regulatory strategies. It is noteworthy that no difference was found between their gender and teaching experience with respect to their perception of self-regulation. Further, no interactions were found among EFL teachers’ gender, experience, and use of self-regulation strategies. The analyses of the qualitative phase revealed that the participants held varying perceptions toward self-regulation strategies. The findings provide implications for EFL teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers to apply self-regulated strategies in their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]