NON-NATIVE CONTENT TEACHERS’ AUTONOMY ON CURRICULUM PLANNING IN ESP CLASSES

Teacher autonomy is one of the most critical factors that can enhance teaching outcome effectiveness. When the teachers are allowed to be autonomous, they are more motivated, and their stress levels are lowered. Moreover, higher levels of autonomy will lead to higher levels of job satisfaction. One of the most prominent aspects of teacher autonomy is curricular autonomy. When the teachers are empowered to be autonomous in curriculum planning, they can decide about the teaching content and procedure appropriate to their learners’ needs and wants. The present study focused on Content teachers’ autonomy in curriculum planning. To gather data on this issue, ۲۰ male and female Content teachers from Lahijan Islamic Azad University took part in this study, completed a teacher autonomy scale, and interviewed. The Likert scale questionnaire results have been analyzed quantitatively through SPSS software, and the data obtained from interviews, which was audio-recorded and transcribed, has been qualitatively analyzed through content analysis. The data analysis results showed that the content teachers’ autonomy level in curriculum planning is higher than the average level, and they are satisfied with the autonomy level allocated to them by the universities and are allowed to show their autonomy in curriculum planning.

Keywords:

content teacher , curriculum planning , teacher autonomy