Indonesian EFL Secondary School Teachers' Challenges on Implementing Reflective Teaching: Experienced and Novice Teachers

Abstract

Reflective teaching is a crucial aspect of teachers' professional development, particularly when implementing the Merdeka Curriculum. However, teachers still face various challenges when attempting to apply reflective teaching in their work. Therefore, this study aims to explore the challenges faced by EFL teachers in Indonesian secondary schools both experienced and novice teachers in implementing reflective teaching. This study employed a qualitative method with a phenomenology design. The participants in this study consist of five EFL teachers at secondary schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis of written reflections, and were subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings identified three main themes: cognitive challenges in reflective practice, time and workload pressure, and resistance to mediated reflective practice. Although experienced and novice teachers shared several challenges, these challenges were manifested differently according to their professional contexts. Experienced teachers reported difficulty recalling reflective theories and experienced workload pressure due to additional professional responsibilities. Meanwhile, both experienced and novice teachers experienced losing details of classroom events when reflections were not documented immediately. Time constraints were also identified by both groups, although only one novice teacher reported this challenge. In addition, both groups showed resistance to technology-mediated reflective practice, preferring conventional reflection methods because of practical and technical limitations. Overall, reflective teaching is influenced not only by teachers' individual commitment but also by the contextual and institutional factors that shape their professional practice.