Teacher's Role and Autonomy in Instructional Planning: The Case of Secondary School History Teachers with regard to the Preparation and Implementation of Annual Instructional Plans

This study seeks to analyze the role of history teachers in instructional planning and their areas of autonomy in Turkey. The concept of teacher autonomy briefly refers to the authority and freedom of teachers in the planning and implementation of the instructional activities and the decisions made during the instructional process. The objective of the present study is to investigate the degree of participation of the teachers in the selection and preparation of the teaching methods, content and materials throughout the preparation and implementation of the annual instructional plans. The study aims to analyze the issue in depth by qualitative research design focusing on a small sampling group consisting 11 participants. The findings have indicated that the role of the teachers in the preparation of the annual instructional plans was quite limited and that the contents of the plans were mostly borrowed from textbooks and the official curriculum. It was also observed that, in the classroom practices, teachers usually reflected their preferences and personal decisions on the instructional process more than what was given in the instructional plans. However, it is difficult to say that this flexibility was able to provide an instructional process designed in line with the classroom realities and the students Learning styles.