The Relationship between Teachers’ Structural and Psychological Empowerment and their Autonomy

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between teachers’ structural and psychological empowerment and their autonomy. This study was designed in the survey model. The research population consisted of teachers working at elementary, lower and upper secondary schools in the Mentese district of Mugla city, Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 325 teachers selected by using disproportionate cluster sampling technique. The Teacher Structural Empowerment Scale, Psychological Empowerment Scale, and Teacher Autonomy Scale were used as the data collection instruments. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the results of the research, teachers’ structural empowerment was above medium level. Teachers had a high level of psychological empowerment and of general autonomy. Structural empowerment explained 47% of teacher autonomy on its own. Including psychological empowerment, it provided a 6% contribution to the model. Autonomy-supportive environment, facilitative school environment, and participatory decision-making environment dimensions of structural empowerment, together with individual empowerment and relational empowerment of psychological empowerment were found to be the meaningful predictors of teacher autonomy.