Author Description

This dissertation, "Actualizing the Power of Learning: Teacher Autonomy in Response to Curriculum Reform" by Jing, Xiao,, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Under the global climate of educational reform, teachers are generally viewed with high expectation as change agents. However, there is less attention to contextual challenges teachers confront in the process of responding to education reform. This thesis reports on a study on teacher autonomy in response to College English (CE) curriculum reform in mainland China which emphasizes learner autonomy as a major curriculum goal. The research questions are: (1) How is teacher autonomy manifested in their conceptualization of learner autonomy? (2) How is teacher autonomy manifested in their response to perceived external constraints against learner autonomy? Tensions between accountability and responsibility are identified as a major issue in research on teacher autonomy. An alternative argument of harmonization between tensions is stated hypothetically. Based on a critical review of five main perspectives on teacher autonomy, i.e. behavioral, cognitive, contextual, political and psychological, theoretical gaps are identified with the proposal of a holistic perspective for investigation of the multiple dimensions of teacher autonomy. With critical synthesis of theoretical perspectives, and drawing on UNESCO''s four pillars of education and traditional Chinese philosophies, a preliminary conceptual framework is proposed for the launch of the study. Three CE teachers were purposefully selected as research participants. Through ana