The relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-regulation with success of Iranian EFL university lecturers

Abstract

Successful lectures adapt themselves to the circumstances and comply with changes in addition to having good psychological adjustment, interpersonal relationships, and performance on achievement-related tasks. Researchers acknowledge that self-regulation (SR) and spiritual intelligence (SI) are both crucial for success in many life domains. As lecturers can influence the complex process of learning in education, understanding the factors influencing their pedagogical success can help them achieve more effective teaching. This study investigated the relationship between spiritual intelligence (SI) and self-regulation (SR) with pedagogical success of 20 Iranian EFL university lecturers, instructing at the universities in Yazd, Iran,  whose success was assessed by 83 of their EFL learners studying for a bachelor’s degree. For this purpose, a sequential mixed-method was designed. Quantitative data were gathered through Spiritual Intelligence questionnaire (SIQ), self-regulation questionnaire (SRQ), and Characteristics of Successful Teachers’ Questionnaire (CSTQ). To enrich the data, qualitative data were also gathered through classroom observations. The findings from Pearson product correlation coefficients revealed that there was a positive and meaningful relationship between the lecturers’ SI and SR with their success. Also, observation checklists revealed a high contribution of some components of SI (e. g. transcendent self-realization, spiritual experiences, and patience) to the teachers’ pedagogical success. The more spiritually intelligent lecturers being more responsible, courageous, creative, confident, and conscious, had a better interpersonal relationship and were less anxious about pursuing their educational goals. Besides, the successful lecturers proved to have a better ability to develop, implement, and flexibly maintain planned behavior in order to achieve their goals. Such findings imply that high levels of SI and SR can help L2 lecturers promote their success and, in turn, improve their learners’ L2 achievement in the classroom.