The impact of dialogic reflections on teacher autonomy

ABSTRACT

Teacher autonomy refers to a teacher’s empowerment in the classroom, school, and community, leading to instructional efficacy and professionalism. Despite its proven contribution to pedagogical decision-making, studies reveal that many teachers lack sufficient autonomy mainly owing to institutional constraints. It is suggested that teachers embrace such restraints and become autonomous by initiating dialogic reflections with their colleagues and reaching contextualized decisions within a community of practice. So far, no study has explored how dialogic reflections can be performed among EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers. To fill the gap, the researcher investigated the process of dialogic reflections and explored whether it would affect the autonomy levels of Turkish EFL teachers. The data were collected through a teacher autonomy scale and by investigating the participants’ dialogic reflections. The results indicated that teacher autonomy levels increased thanks to social interdependence through collaborative decision-making.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• teacher autonomy
• dialogic reflections
• community of practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Semi-Structured Interview Questions

1. Did you see any differences in how you teach English now? If yes, what are these differences?

2. How did you feel about the discussion sessions? Would you like us to come together and discuss more? Why?

3. What do you think about your and your colleagues’ roles during the discussion? Do you think you supported each other?

4. Can you please compare and contrast your autonomy in the classroom before and after the sessions?

5. What else would you have liked to discuss about autonomy during the discussions?

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erhan Gülşen

Erhan Gülşen (PhD candidate in English Language Education) is currently completing his dissertation at Bahçeşehir University. His major areas of research are English as a Medium of Instruction, content and language-integrated learning, differentiated instruction, EFL teacher and learner autonomy, and EFL teacher and learner identity. He has published articles in international journals on these areas.

Derin Atay

Derin Atay (PhD in English Language Education) has undertaken research mainly in pre- and in-service teacher education, particularly on teacher development. She has published articles in various journals, authored a book on the transformation of teacher education, and coauthored book chapters on the role of culture in education.