Autonomy and Agency in Curriculum Decision-Making: A Study of Instructors in a Canadian Adult Settlement ESL Program

Abstract

This study examines the views of five adult ESL instructors about their processes of curriculum implementation in a settlement language program about to adopt the Canadian Language Benchmarks. Its central research question is: How do these instructors assess the value of their own autonomy over curriculum decision-making? Drawing on theoretical definitions of autonomy and agency prominent in general education literature, autonomy has been defined here as the degree to which teachers have the desire to make curriculum decisions using personal initiative and intellectual engagement. Interview data related to the views held by the instructors regarding curriculum processes were then analyzed. The study reveals their concerns in regard to classroom activities, curriculum guidelines, linguistic elements, teaching materials, needs assessment, assessment of learner proficiency, professional development, relations with other staff, and settlement theme content. It makes the case for developing program supports for instructor autonomy and demonstrates the usefulness of this concept theoretically.