An Investigation of Iranian EFL Teachers’ Self-efficacy and Adversity Quotient in Online versus In-Person Classes

Two main factors enumerated as effective in teaching success and learning achievement are teaches’ self-efficacy and adversity quoatient (AQ).With respect to the recent global shift to online teaching and learning in different educational settings, the present study was planned to explore any significant difference between Iranian EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and AQ in online and in-person classes.The participants, selected based on purposive convenience sampling, comprised 150 male and female EFL teachers who were B.A. or M.A. holders. Fifty-seven of these teachers were mainly involved in in-person classes while 93 teachers mostly dealth with online teaching. Initially, the researchers sent them the Bar-On’s (1997) emotional quotient inventory to provide assurance for the homogeneity of the two groups in this regard. Near the end of the term, when they were fully involved in either online or  in-person teaching, both groups received the AQ profile and teacher’s sense of self-efficacy scale to respond attentively.The collected data was analyzed and the results of the independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference between teachers’ self-efficacy and AQ with the online group outperforming the in-person group.These findings suggest that the challenges of teaching online can contribute to enhancing EFL teachers’ AQ and self-efficacy.