Extravert and Introvert EFL Teachers: How do Reflective ‎Teaching and Burnout Relate?‎

Abstract

Reflectivity may affect various aspects of teachers' profession. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between reflective teaching and burnout among introvert and extravert EFL teachers. To this end, based on convenience sampling, 100 English language teachers (55 females and 45 males) were selected from different language institutes in Tehran. Their age ranged between 22 and 30 years old, and their years of experience in teaching varied from 4 to 12 years.  The administration of the Meyers-Briggs Traits Inventory (MBTI), at the onset of the study, revealed that 65 of the participants were extravert and 35 were introvert English language teachers. Reflective Teaching Questionnaire (Akbari, Behzadpoor, &Dadvand, 2010) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1986) were employed as the data collection instruments. The results of the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient showed that reflective teaching and burnout had a negative correlation with each other regardless of the personality type of the teachers. Also, the results of the independent samples t-test indicated that introvert teachers were more reflective than extravert teachers, while extravert teachers were less prone to burnout. The study has implications for teachers, administrators, and teacher trainers regarding the importance of enhancing reflection among EFL teachers.