Developing a teacher education course for sustainability to ameliorate Iranian EFL instructors’ teacher immunity and reflective practices

Research in second language acquisition increasingly highlights the importance of sustainability. However, language teacher education programs rarely include practical courses focused on education for sustainability. This pilot exploratory mixed-methods study investigated the effects of a sustainability-oriented teacher training course on the teacher immunity and reflective practices of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors. Using a convenience sample, the researchers selected 54 EFL teachers from six language institutes in Urmia, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (which received a 12-session course on environmental sustainability) or an active comparison group (which received a course on learner factors). Data were collected using teacher immunity and reflective practice questionnaires as pretests and posttests, followed by semi-structured interviews with 16 participants from the experimental group. Quantitative analysis via ANCOVA showed that the sustainability course led to higher scores in teacher immunity and reflective practices compared to the learner-factors course. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed that participants developed more positive views of their teaching roles and stronger professional resilience. The findings suggest that localized sustainability courses can support teachers' psychological and professional development, though further research is needed to generalize these outcomes.