4. Discussion and Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to propose a new scale to measure how Turkish classroom teachers feel
autonomous in their profession. Based on the literature review, it was predicted that the autonomy areas for Turkish
teachers would be instructional planning and implementation, and professional development. However, the data
analysis results revealed three areas of autonomy for teachers: (1) autonomy in instructional planning and
implementation, (2) autonomy in professional development, and (3) autonomy in determining the framework of the
curriculum. The first area of autonomy was considered as consistent with Pearson and Hall (1993) and Friedman
(1999). The second area of autonomy was also found as consistent with Friedman (1999). The third factor was found
in consistency with Archbald and Porter (1994) and Öztürk (2012) who found out that the teachers have less
autonomy over the planning of the curriculum than classroom practices. In Turkish education system, teachers are
provided with educational programs to teach their students by MoNE. Therefore, their perceived autonomy differed
in curriculum planning and classroom implementation.
This study is the first step of a scale development procedure. The next step will be to collect data, and to conduct
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in order to confirm the factor structure of the scale and verify its validity and
reliability.