Professional Autonomy Visited: Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives During Practice Teaching

Öz

This study focuses on the pre-service teacher’s professional autonomy in an English language teacher education program of a foundation university in İstanbul, Türkiye. It explores whether practice teaching period had an influence on the pre-service teachers’ professional autonomy and the factors that might have a role in their understanding of autonomy. Thirty-seven pre-service teachers answered professional autonomy questionnaire and ten volunteered to participate in the semi-structured in-depth interviews. The overall study findings indicated that the participants had a high level of autonomy in terms of internal and external drives and motives, capability and collaboration with colleagues. The practice teaching experience had an impact on their perspectives about internal and external motivational sources, managing time and their capacity for professional development, whereas their opinions for collaboration did not change over practicum period. The participants’ comments indicated that mentor teachers, feedback and extra teaching experiences were the factors that led to the changes in their autonomy.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Professional autonomy
• pre-service teachers
• teacher education

Mesleki Özerklik: Öğretmen Adaylarının Uygulama Sırasındaki Görüşleri

Öz

Bu çalışma, İstanbul'daki bir vakıf üniversitesinin İngilizce Öğretmenliği programındaki öğretmen adaylarının mesleki özerkliklerine odaklanmaktadır. Öğretmenlik uygulaması döneminin öğretmen adaylarının mesleki özerkliği üzerinde bir etkisi olup olmadığını ve özerklik anlayışlarında rol oynayabilecek faktörleri araştırmaktadır. Otuz yedi öğretmen adayı mesleki özerklik anketini yanıtlamış ve on öğretmen adayı yarı yapılandırılmış derinlemesine görüşmelere katılmaya gönüllü olmuştur. Çalışmanın genel bulguları, katılımcıların içsel ve dışsal dürtüler ve güdüler, yeterlilik ve meslektaşlarla işbirliği açısından yüksek düzeyde özerkliğe sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Uygulama öğretmenliği deneyimi, iç ve dış motivasyon kaynakları, zamanı yönetme ve mesleki gelişim kapasiteleri hakkındaki bakış açıları üzerinde etkili olurken, işbirliği konusundaki görüşleri uygulama süresi boyunca değişmemiştir. Katılımcıların yorumları, uygulama öğretmenleri, geribildirim ve ekstra öğretim deneyimlerinin özerkliklerinde değişikliğe yol açan faktörler olduğunu göstermiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mesleki özerklik
• öğretmen adayları
• öğretmen eğitimi

Kaynakça

1. Aoki, N., & Kobayashi, H. (2009). Defending stories and sharing one: Towards a narrative understanding of teacher autonomy. In R. Pemberton, S. Toogood, & A. Barfield (Eds.), Maintaining control: Autonomy and language learning (pp. 199-216). Hong Kong University Press.
2. Balçıkanlı, C. (2011). Learner autonomy in language learning: Student teachers’ beliefs. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(1), 90-103. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2010v35n1.8
3. Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). Pearson.
4. Chaaban, Y., & Du, X. (2017). Novice teachers' job satisfaction and coping strategies: Overcoming contextual challenges at Qatari government schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 340-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.07.002
5. Cirocki, A. & Anam, S. (2021). ‘How much freedom do we have?’ The perceived autonomy of secondary school EFL teachers in Indonesia. Language Teaching Research, 28(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211007472
6. Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage Pub. Ltd.
7. Denzin, N: K. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to research methods. Aldine Transaction.
8. Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.). Sage.

9. Derakhshan, A., Coombe, C., Arabmofrad, A., & Taghizadeh, M. (2020). Investigating the effects of English language teachers’ professional identity and autonomy in their success. Issues in Language Teaching, 9(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.22054/ilt.2020.52263.496
10. Dikilitaş, K, & Griffiths, C. (2017). Developing language teacher autonomy through action research. Palgrave Macmillan.
11. Dilekçi, Ü. (2022). Teacher autonomy as a predictor of job satisfaction. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 11(2), 328-337. https://doi.org/10.14686/buefad.1020340
12. Dinçer, A. (2019). Language teacher autonomy in Turkish EFL context: Relations with teachers’ autonomy and job satisfaction levels. I-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 9(2), 11-25.
13. Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
14. Dörnyei, Z., & Taguchi, T. (2009). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing (2nd ed.). Routledge.
15. Ertürk, R. (2023). The effect of teacher autonomy on teachers' professional dedication. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 10(2), 494-507. https://dx.doi.org/10.52380/ijpes.2023.10.2.1048
16. Gabryś-Barker, D. (2016). Pre-service teachers' perceptions of teacher autonomy. In W M. Pawlak, A. Mystkowska-Wiertelak, J. Bielak (Eds.) Autonomy in second language learning: Managing the resources (pp. 161-177). Springer.
17. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine Publishing.
18. Given, L. M. (2008). The sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. Sage.
19. Huang, J. (2011). A dynamic account of autonomy, agency and identity in (T)EFL learning. In G. Murray, X. Gao & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 229-247). Multilingual Matters.
20. Keddie, A., MacDonald, K., Blackmore, J., & Gobby, B. (2023). Teacher professional autonomy in an atypical government school: matters of relationality and context. Oxford Review of Education, 50(3), 434–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2023.2236941
21. Kong, P. P. (2022). Understanding the teachers’ perspectives on the role of teacher autonomy in English classrooms in Chinese secondary schools. Educational Studies, 48(3), 397-407. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1763784
22. La Ganza, W. T. (2004). Learner Autonomy – teacher autonomy: Interrelating and the will to empower. In Terry, L. & Hayo, R. (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy: Concepts, realities and responses (pp. 63-79). John Benjamins.
23. Little, D. (1995). Learning as dialogue: The dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy, System, 23(2), 175-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(95)00006-6
24. Little, D. (2000). We're all in it together: Exploring the interdependence of teacher and learner autonomy. In L. Karlsson, F. Kjisik & J. Nordlund (Eds.), All together now: Papers from the 7th Nordic conference and workshop on autonomous language learning (pp. 45-56). University of Helsinki Language Centre.
25. Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2005). Second language research: Methodology and design. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
26. Mansfield, C., Beltman, S., Broadley, T., & Weatherby-Fell, N. (2016). Building resilience in teacher education: An evidenced informed framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.11.016
27. Manzano Vázquez, B. (2018). Teacher development for autonomy: An exploratory review of language teacher education for learner and teacher autonomy. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12(4), 387-398. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2016.1235171
28. McGrath, I. (2000). Teacher autonomy. In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath & T.E. Lamb (Eds), Learner Autonomy, Teacher Autonomy: Future Directions, (pp. 100-110). Addison Wesley Longman.
29. Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
30. Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana J. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Sage.
31. Morse, J. (1994). Designing funded qualitative research. In N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook for qualitative research (pp.220-235). Sage Pub. Ltd.
32. Okay, A. (2018). The relationship among professional autonomy, reflective practice and burnout of English language instructors in Turkey (Publication No. 527513) [Doctoral dissertation, Gazi University]. Yöktez.
33. Okay, A. & Balçıkanlı, C. (2021). Autonomy for ourselves: development and validation of Teachers’ Professional Autonomy Questionnaire (TEPAQ), Journal of Education for Teaching, 47(4), 513-530, https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2021.1927681
34. Öztürk, G. (2019). Fostering learner autonomy among pre-service EFL teachers: A mixed-method study. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 8(3), 298-316.doi: 10.17583/ijep.2019.4427
35. Pacaol, N. F. (2021). Teacher’s workload intensification: A qualitative case study of its implications on teaching quality. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 8(1). 43-60.
36. Pineda, D., & Frodden, C. (2008). The development of a novice teacher’s autonomy in the context of EFL in Colombia. Profile, 9, 143-162.
37. Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2015). Job satisfaction, stress, and coping strategies in the teaching profession: What do the teachers say? International Education Studies, 8, 181-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/14.02.PR0.114k14w0
38. Smith, R., & Erdoğan, S. (2008). Teacher-learner autonomy: Programme goals and student-teacher constructs. In T. Lamb & H. Reinders (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy: concepts, realities, and responses (pp. 83–102). John Benjamins.
39. Usma, W. J. (2007). Teacher autonomy: A systematic review of the concept beyond applied linguistics. Íkala: Revista de lenguaje y cultura, 12(18), 245-275. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.2720
40. Warren, S. (2018). Teaching experience and how it relates teacher impressions of work intensification [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Walden University.
41. Yıldırım, T. (2017). The perceptions of EFL instructors and administrators on teacher autonomy: A case study (Publication no. 481638) [Master’s thesis, Middle East Technical University]. Yöktez
42. Yükselir, C. & Özer, Ö. (2022). Investigating the interplay between English language teachers’ autonomy, well-being and efficacy, Issues in Educational Research, 32(4), 1643-1657.