The present study made an attempt to investigate the differences between Iranian EFL teachers’ resilience at private institutes and public schools in a mixed method study. To do so, 205 male and female teachers participated in the quantitative study who were selected through snowball sampling from several private language institutes and public schools from different regions in Iran with teaching experience between 1 to 30 years. The Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure teachers’ resilience at private institutes and public schools. The results obtained through the independent samples t-test and one sample t-test revealed that there was no significant difference between factors affecting teachers’ resilience at private institutes and public schools. The point that resilience was a promoting factor was evident among all the respondents. Regarding the qualitative part, 26 male and female teachers were selected through purposive sampling, participated in semi-structured interviews, and telling their teaching stories, which was analyzed through thematic analysis. Based on the gleaned data, teachers at public schools had a complicated repertoire of strategies at their disposal to tackle the challenges of teaching conditions in comparison with those of at private institutes. The results of the current study have some implications for teacher development and teacher education.
