THE AUTONOMY PARADOX IBD

Sinopse

What do we mean when we speak about teacher autonomy? How free are teachers to go about their work? áTo answer these complex questions the authors asked thousands of teachers in four national contexts: in Finland, Ireland, Germany and Sweden, what they think autonomy looks like. The resulting book examines teacher autonomy theoreticallyáand empirically, comparingáteachersâÇÖáperceptions of their professionaláautonomy.áUtilizing a mixed method approach the authors combine data from a large-scale questionnaire study, teacher interviews, lesson and meeting observations, and workshops that brought together teachers from the four participating countries.áAll this engagement with teachers revealed that simply increasing their professional autonomy might not lead to desiredáoutcomes. This is because, from a teachersâÇÖ point of view,áincreased decision-making capacity brings further complexity and risk toátheiráwork, and it may instead lead to anxiety, self-restriction,áand the eventual rejection of autonomy.áThese surprising conclusions challenge the increasingly orthodox view that increased autonomy is a desirable end in itself.áThis is whatáthe authors call the autonomy paradox.