A Comparative Study Of Novice And Proficient Teacher Autonomy In The Context Of College English Teaching Reform

Autonomy has been a popular focus in the field of second/foreign language education since the late 1960s. In China, College English Curriculum Requirements (implemented in 2007) aims at developing learner autonomy, which entails the promotion of teacher autonomy, as it is recognized that the development of learner autonomy depends largely on teacher autonomy (Little,1995; Benson,2000; Huang Jing,2007). Teacher autonomy has generally been referred to as "teachers'control" (including freedom from external control) over their own teaching (Smith,2000). An autonomous teacher by definition is one who promotes learner autonomy, that is, teachers can only develop learner autonomy if they themselves are autonomous (Thavenius,1999). Therefore, in the context of teaching reform, language teachers are more likely to succeed in promoting learner autonomy if their own education has encouraged them to be autonomous. Teachers' learning autonomously themselves is also one of the most effective ways of supporting teachers in teacher education, as well as improving and expanding their professional preparation and practices (Smith and Erdogan,2008). In addition, The descriptions of teachers in different phases of their professional development, may provide insights for teachers in understanding their own professional development and identifying emerging characteristics of expertise early on in young teachers so that they can be supported as well challenged at appropriate phases of their professional development to extend their competence.With specific reference to Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) college English teachers in the setting of School of Foreign Languages in a university of China, the current study aims to explore the different extent that how novice and proficient teachers see themselves as autonomous practitioners, to examine the effect of teachers' characteristics on their autonomy and to propose coping strategies to as well as constraints on the development of teacher autonomy. The present paper begins with the background information of China's college English teaching reform and the current development of teacher autonomy, followed by the literature review of teacher autonomy. Then the empirical study is based on the hypothesis that novice and proficient teacher perceive different extent of autonomy in relation to teaching, assessment, school management, professional development, and curriculum development in the context of Chinese college English teaching reform. Participants in this study are 37 novice teachers (postgraduates) and 36 proficient EFL college English teachers (in-service teaches) who work in the College English Department of School of Foreign languages of the university surveyed in China. The research methods of questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observation are also used to measure the difference in the land of autonomy between novice and proficient teachers in that university, examine the effect of the possible influencing variables such as age, gender, highest degree held, etc on autonomy of both groups, and then explore constraints on and coping strategies to teachers'autonomous development.The conclusion can be drawn and summarized into the following points:First, both novice and proficient teachers have scant or low level of autonomy. Teachers particularly value the autonomy they perceive they have over teaching and they consistently rank their possessed autonomy over professional development, curriculum development, assessment, school management below teaching autonomy. Second, novice and proficient teachers are only significantly different on the dimension of professional development autonomy. The discrepancy can be explained in term of teachers'capacity, responsibility and freedom, which are the three key terms of the working definition of teacher autonomy in this research. Third, for novice teachers, perceptions of teachers'overall autonomy does not differ significantly according to their gender, age, grade, and whether the teachers have prior teaching experience before their postgraduate study; for proficient teachers, there is also no significant difference on teachers'gender, age, highest degree held, and professional title. Forth, the author summarizes the constraints to teacher autonomy: nation or school guidelines/standards, the curriculum, assessment, time and teachers' agency. Fifth, from the perspectives of teachers'metacognition, self-efficacy, reflective teaching, team-teaching, and action research, the author proposes several coping strategies for teachers to enhance their autonomy in teacher education and professional development.Based on the above findings, the study implies that school leaders, teacher educators as well as college English teachers themselves should take responsibilities to enhance teacher autonomy. It is suggestible for them to create a supporting mechanism for teacher autonomy and to apply coping strategies in college English teaching to promote teacher autonomy. This comparison study will draw more attention to the complexity and significance of teacher autonomy, encouraging teachers in different phases to develop their autonomy in their professional development, and shed some light on teachers' development of expertise and teacher education.