Heutagogy in EFL teaching: facilitating and hindering factors

Heutagogy is a type of self-directed learning and is actually an extension of concepts related to andragogy - adult education and learning (Blaschke, ۲۰۱۲; Hase & Kenyon, ۲۰۰۱). This learner-centered method combines various concepts such as adult learning, the evolution of learning goals and rules in the shadow of relevant experience, and the ability to think and critique performance in order to create a continuous learning process. EFL teachers are already well-involved in this type of ongoing learning process; however, few researches exist that has explored heutagogy in EFL teaching and learning, emphasizing interactions and the accompanying feedback that continuously modify learning processes which are unpredictable. This qualitative descriptive project was to investigate how EFL teachers were practicing heutagogy, and to explore the elements that made the process of self-determined learning easy and difficult. Thirteen EFL teachers in Iran Language Institute (ILI) - teaching adults - were interviewed. Using Constant Comparative Method and Complexity Theory as a framework, the researcher analyzed the data in this study. Based on the data, the EFL teachers, by practicing self-directed learning, improved their level of linguistic and pedagogical skills/ knowledge according to the needs of the students. Time is the most fundamental factor in creating success or failure in accomplishing heutagogy. Participating teachers - as they developed their learning skills and gained more confidence - also noted that their previous experiences with self-directed learning helped them in their later experiences. The principles of heutagogy should be embedded in teacher education programs. Pre- and In-service education can provide teachers with guidelines to engage in heutagogy. At last, there should be more research to decipher how EFL teachers can manage a life-long learning in order to be updated in the context of teaching/ learning.