Modeling the contribution of foreign language wellbeing and teaching enjoyment to loving pedagogy among Iranian English language teachers

Abstract Loving Pedagogy (LP), guided by the principles of positive psychology (PP), highlights empathetic connection, emotional relationality, and care in teaching—traits increasingly valued in foreign language teaching. Though conceptually promising, LP lacks adequate exploration in empirical scholarship in the context of psychological wellbeing (PWB) and Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment (FLTE), two affective variables that could undergird LP execution. Bridging this lacuna, the present study models the contribution of PWB and FLTE to LP in the case of 201 Iranian EFL teachers from varied teaching contexts. Utilizing validated tools and structural equation modeling (SEM), the results show that both PWB and FLTE are strong and significant predictors of LP with FLTE being the more robust antecedent. These outcomes highlights the necessity of instilling teacher emotional contentment and teaching joy to engender loving and compassionate teaching spaces that respect the emotional well-being of learners and teacher alike. The study provides a new framework of conceptualizing the effect of affective experience on pedagogic orientation and underlines the necessity of institutional support and teacher education interventions focused on wellbeing and enjoyment that form the corners of teaching that are loving and care-oriented.