Reimagining EFL Teacher Wellbeing: Journaling as an Empowering Tool for Reflection and Resistance

Nowadays, English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers face an increasing amount of pressure within the educational system, marked by standardized, rigid curricula and extensive administrative demands. The constant need to suppress their own voices while trying to address those challenges contributes to heightened stress and job dissatisfaction, often resulting in burnout that decreases their passion for teaching and affects the quality of education they provide. In this demanding environment, it is crucial to adopt practices that would support teacher wellbeing and build their resilience. This paper examines how journaling, or diary keeping, provides EFL teachers with an effective tool for maintaining their wellbeing. Within this private safe space for self-reflection, educators can explore and express their emotions, frustrations, fears, and hopes without external judgement, and are encouraged to question and potentially disrupt the norms that limit their professional autonomy and creativity. By providing examples from EFL teachers’ experiences, this study claims that diary keeping serves not only as a method of self-care, but also as a powerful form of resistance against the overwhelming demands of contemporary education. It also highlights the importance of prioritizing teacher wellbeing through a more sustainable, human-centered approach in which teacher voices are valued and protected.