Towards Invited Autonomy: A Qualitative Case Study on Elementary School Teachers’ Experiences of Curriculum Autonomy under Differing Guidelines for School Autonomous Hours

This qualitative case study examines how elementary school teachers experience and enact curriculum autonomy within two contrasting policy contexts. District A implemented school autonomous hours under the 2022 Revised National Curriculum as an optional policy, whereas District B made it mandatory. The findings reveal that, despite teachers’ intrinsic readiness, both districts began their implementation with heteronomous, externally driven steps. However, District B (mandatory) provided more systematic and structured support. In District A, individual professionalism gradually expanded into community collaboration, while in District B, community-centered cooperation was prioritized, resulting in a more hierarchical and organized approach to school-level curriculum development. Across both districts, teachers perceived school autonomous hours as both a process of curriculum-making and a space for collective autonomy. Yet, they encountered institutional constraints such as prior administrative pre-screening. A notable finding is the paradox that teachers, while valuing autonomy, nonetheless supported its formalization. This stance reflected not a surrender of autonomy, but a strategic choice to ensure accountability and to spark change. Drawing on these insights, the study proposes the concept of “Invited Autonomy”—a supportive ecological condition that transforms policy-granted autonomy into lived, teacher-experienced autonomy.