The Role of EFL Teachers' Optimism and Commitment in Their Work Engagement: A Theoretical Review

When the Confounding Effect of Optimism Meets the Collider Effect of Motivation: Prospective teachers' Moral Motives and Moral Stances

Previous studies clearly indicate the importance of exploring factors that influence teachers'/prospective teachers' moral stances on teaching-related ethical concerns. However, none of these studies have specifically examined the moral motives of teachers/prospective teachers based on the activation of their moral regulation systems in personal, interpersonal, and social settings, while considering both the collider effect of motivation strength and the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. Such an investigation could provide deeper insights into teachers' moral stances regarding critical incidents that give rise to ethical concerns within educational environments, particularly during the initial stages of their teaching careers (i.e., teacher education). Therefore, in the current study, prospective teachers' moral motives were examined as predictors of their perceptions regarding unethical teacher behaviors, considering the collider effect of motivation strength and the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. 701 prospective teachers participated in the study. Comprehensive analyses, including preliminary exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and a main analysis (i.e., set-ESEM), were implemented to investigate the relationships between the research variables thoroughly. The results revealed that the moral motives of 'self-restraint' and 'not harming' had a significant negative effect on the moral stances of prospective teachers regarding the adoption of unethical teacher behaviors. In contrast, the 'social order' moral motive had a significant positive effect on their moral stances toward adopting unethical teacher behaviors. In particular, these effects were not due to the collider effect of motivation strength or the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed in the study.

Modeling the predictive role of music teachers' job commitment and optimism in their sense of self-efficacy

Introduction

Teachers' psychological factors have been argued to influence various aspects of music education. However, scant research has explored the psycho-affective aspects of music teachers' work. To solve this shortage of research, this study examined the predictive role of Chinese music teachers' job commitment and academic optimism in their self-efficacy.

Methods

To this end, 340 music teachers from four universities in Henan Province completed an online survey including three questionnaires.

Results

The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis demonstrated that music teachers' self-efficacy could be positively and significantly predicted by their optimism and job commitment.

Discussion

The study provided implications for music education to pay further attention to the psychology of teaching in this field. Finally, directions for further research are presented to scholars, who are interested in the psycho-emotional side of music education.

Relationship between psychological adaptability and work engagement of college teachers within smart teaching environments: the mediating role of digital information literacy self-efficacy

Introduction

Integrating the Internet and traditional teaching has enriched teaching resources and methods and introduced many advanced digital media. The smart teaching process is influenced by teachers' psychological adaptability, which can be affected by teachers' work engagement. However, the relationship between the two has not received sufficient attention in the literature. This study aims to analyze the relationship between college teachers' psychological adaptability and work engagement in a smart teaching environment.

Methods

Applying structural equation modeling (SEM) to a sample of 373 front-line teachers, this study focuses on the mediating effect of digital information literacy self-efficacy on the relationship between teachers' psychological adaptability and work engagement.

Results

The results show that the four dimensions of college teachers' psychological adaptability strongly influence work engagement and digital information literacy self-efficacy. In particular, teachers' psychological adaptability and work engagement are positively correlated; teachers' self-efficacy can positively affect the three dimensions of their work engagement, and teachers' psychological adaptability can positively affect their digital information literacy self-efficacy.

Conclusion

The above results can serve as a basis for the development and improvement of the training of college teachers and the implementation of smart teaching. The study findings highlight the importance of training teachers on information technology teaching and implementing measures to enhance teachers' digital information literacy self-efficacy. Training should focus on the knowledge and skills of teachers using information technology teaching and increase the practical links of teachers using information technology teaching.

Self-efficacy, reflection, and resilience as predictors of work engagement among English teachers

Introduction

Given the significant role of work engagement of teachers in educational contexts, some scholarly attention has been directed to exploring the predictors of this construct. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to investigate the predictors of teacher work engagement among Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers by testing a model that includes teacher self-efficacy, teacher reflection, and teacher resilience.

Methods

To achieve this goal, 512 EFL teachers were invited to participate in an online survey, which consisted of four questionnaires. The construct validity of the measures was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis. Then, structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the relationships between the variables.

Results

The findings indicated that teacher self-efficacy, teacher reflection, and teacher resilience were direct predictors of work engagement, and teacher self-efficacy had an indirect effect on work engagement via teacher reflection and resilience. Similarly, teacher reflection also had an indirect impact on work engagement through teacher resilience.

Discussion

These results have important implications for teacher education programs. The significance of these predictors of work engagement among EFL teachers highlights the importance of fostering self-efficacy, reflection, and resilience among teachers in order to promote their work engagement. Further research can explore ways to enhance these predictors through training and support programs for teachers.

Reflective teaching and academic optimism as correlates of work engagement among university instructors

As teaching is a complex and demanding activity especially in university and higher education contexts, exploring the correlates of work engagement in university contexts seems to be a promising research area. As an attempt to further clarify this research area, this study sought to examine the significance of reflective teaching and academic optimism as correlates of work engagement among university instructors in Iran. Having been selected via convenience sampling, a sample of 289 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) university instructors participated in this survey. The electronic versions of the scales of teacher academic optimism, reflective teaching, and work engagement were administered to the participants. Initially, the construct validity of the scales was verified for the university contexts via performing confirmatory factor analysis. Then the hypothesized structural relationships among the constructs were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results demonstrated that both reflective teaching and academic optimism significantly predicted work engagement among English university instructors. Some notable implications are finally discussed based on these findings.

EFL Students' L2 Achievement: The Role of Teachers' Organizational Commitment and Loving Pedagogy

Since student L2 achievement is the primary objective of all language education contexts, a huge number of inquiries have explored the role of students' personal characteristics in promoting their L2 achievement. A plethora of studies have also assessed the impact of teachers' personal and professional qualities on students' L2 achievement. Yet, the effects of teachers' organizational commitment and loving pedagogy have largely been neglected. In addition, no review article has been undertaken to outline the consequences of teachers' organizational commitment and loving pedagogy for students' L2 achievement. Against this backdrop, the present article intends to describe the role of teachers' organizational commitment and loving pedagogy in EFL students' L2 achievement by reviewing the theoretical and empirical evidence. The review revealed that teachers' organizational commitment and loving pedagogy can favorably influence EFL students' L2 achievement. The implications for language teachers, teacher trainers, and educational administrators are also discussed.

The Predictive Role of Chinese English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Psychological Capital in Their Job Commitment and Academic Optimism

Positive psychology (PP) has received increasing attention in the field of education. Therefore, it would be of utmost importance to analyze the relationship between the constructs falling under the category of positive psychology and other constructs to pave the way for both educational authorities and teachers themselves. Reviewing the previous studies, it turned out that there have been no studies to discuss the interplay between teachers' psychological capital and their job commitment and academic optimism particularly in the context of China. To fill this gap, the current study set out to inspect the function of Chinese English as a Foreign language (EFL) teachers' psychological capital in promoting their job commitment and academic optimism. To accomplish this, 316 Chinese teachers (i.e., 97 males, 219 females) were asked to complete "Psychological Capital Scale," "Job Commitment Scale," and "Academic Optimism Scale." The results of regression analyses revealed that Chinese EFL teachers' psychological capital can strongly predict their job commitment and academic optimism. The conclusion and implications of the results are finally discussed and it is mentioned that both educational authorities and teachers can benefit from this study and make the experience of teaching much more productive.

The Role of EFL/ESL Teachers' Psychological Empowerment and Optimism on Their Job Commitment

Research has approved that teaching is a complex profession involving many cognitive, social, cultural, and psycho-emotional factors. To perform efficiently, teachers must be psycho-emotionally powerful and ready to cope with the existing challenges and complications of teaching a second/foreign language. This demands attempts to be made to psychologically empower the teachers to form positive outlooks about their profession and practices. Despite the criticality of psychological empowerment (PE), few studies in L2 contexts have dealt with it. Against this gap, the present article aimed to theoretically analyze the interaction among teachers' PE, optimism, and commitment. In so doing, the definitions, models, components, typologies, and empirical studies related to these constructs were presented. Finally, practical implications of this line of research for EFL/ESL teachers, teacher trainers, and researchers are provided to raise their awareness of psycho-emotional factors involved L2 education.

Exploring a Structural Model of Teaching Enjoyment, Teacher Self-Efficacy, and Work Engagement

Due to the complexity of teaching, determining the variables influencing teachers' work engagement is a rewarding research area. In line with this research agenda, the purpose of this study was to test a structural model of work engagement based on teacher self-efficacy and teaching enjoyment among English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers. For this purpose, 315 Iranian English instructors completed an online survey. Initially, the measurement models for the three latent variables were averred via conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Following that, structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the hypothesized model. SEM results showed that both self-efficacy and teaching enjoyment were the significant predictors of teachers' work engagement, although teacher self-efficacy was a stronger predictor than teaching enjoyment. The findings might have notable implications for English teachers.