The Relationship between Teachers’ Structural and Psychological Empowerment and their Autonomy

Year 2018, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 81 - 96, 01.10.2018

Yılmaz İlker Yorulmaz , İbrahim Çolak , Aycan Çiçek Sağlam

Abstract

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Keywords

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The Relationship between Teachers’ Structural and Psychological Empowerment and their Autonomy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between teachers’ structural and
psychological empowerment and their autonomy. This study was designed in the survey
model. The research population consisted of teachers working at elementary, lower and upper
secondary schools in the Menteşe district of Muğla city, Turkey. The sample of the study
consisted of 325 teachers selected by using disproportionate cluster sampling technique. The
Teacher Structural Empowerment Scale, Psychological Empowerment Scale, and Teacher
Autonomy Scale were used as the data collection instruments. Descriptive statistics, t-test,
ANOVA, and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the
results of the research, teachers’ structural empowerment was above medium level. Teachers
had a high level of psychological empowerment and of general autonomy. Structural
empowerment explained 47% of teacher autonomy on its own. Including psychological
empowerment, it provided a 6% contribution to the model. Autonomy-supportive
environment, facilitative school environment, and participatory decision-making
environment dimensions of structural empowerment, together with individual empowerment
and relational empowerment of psychological empowerment were found to be the meaningful
predictors of teacher autonomy.

Keywords

Structural empowerment, Psychological empowerment, Teacher autonomy,

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