Culturally Responsive Teaching in TEFL Programs: Exploring EFL Teachers' Experiences

This study was an attempt to investigate EFL teachers' experiences with culturally responsive teaching (CRT) during their BA, MA, and PhD in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) programs. Through a phenomenological research design, 14 Iranian EFL teachers' experiences were explored by conducting a series of phenomenological interviews. Giorgi's (2009) five-step method was used to analyze/synthesize the phenomenological data. Moreover, the TEFL programs across different educational levels (BA, MA, and PhD) were explored for CRT-related courses. The findings showed that although some courses at BA, MA, and PhD levels included CRT principles, not all of these courses were addressed by the universities. Moreover, the findings also revealed that EFL teachers had different experiences with the courses that included CRT principles. On the one hand, EFL teachers did not have positive and sufficient experiences with the courses developing CRT principles, including developing cultural knowledge, developing cultural-related teaching methodology, creating cross-cultural communities, and developing affirmative attitudes toward students' cultural diversities. On the other hand, the findings showed EFL teachers' positive experiences with the courses that included two CRT principles: sociocultural consciousness and constructivist view of teaching. Therefore, it seems that the TEFL programs do not appropriately address CRT development among EFL teachers. However, as discussed in this paper, TEFL programs have some possibilities across different educational levels that can help EFL teachers to become culturally responsive teachers.