The paper first delves into the theoretical underpinnings of reflection as related to language teaching and learning and touches upon the new developments on the concept. It, then, deals with the inhibitors lying in the way of Iranian EFL teachers' reflective practice drawing upon the findings of recent studies in this respect. In keeping with the post-modernist and post-structuralist worldviews in general and post-method paradigm in foreign language teaching in particular, reflective practice entered teacher education literature challenging the positivistic epistemology of technical rationality and technicist approach to learning and teaching, but advocating the artistry of professional knowledge and practice in teaching (Thompson & Pascal, 2012) and seeking to bridge the gap between 'high ground' of theory and 'swampy lowlands' of practice (Schӧn,1983). Reflective practice aims at questioning, analysing and evaluating the taken-for-granted assumptions and the conventionalised routinised forms of practice and seeks to democratise teaching and learning. The findings of recent studies in the field on the topic (e.g., Soodmand Afshar and Farahani, 2017), reveal that three main sources might inhibit (Iranian) EFL teachers from thinking and acting reflectively including “lack of knowledge inhibitors” (e.g., unfamiliarity with the concept of reflection, not attaching enough significance to reflection, etc.), “affective/emotional inhibitors” (e.g., burn-out and lack of motivation), and “teaching situation inhibitors” (e.g., job insecurity, job dissatisfaction, etc). which are discussed in detail in the paper.
