Supporting Student Autonomy in Early School Education: Teaching Strategies, Challenges, and Conclusions from Pilot Studies

Katarzyna Błażejewska

doi:10.21697/fp.2025.2.29

Published: 2025-12-30

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2025)

Supporting Student Autonomy in Early School Education: Teaching Strategies, Challenges, and Conclusions from Pilot Studies

Katarzyna Błażejewska

Pedagogical Forum

Section: Colloquia

https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2025.2.29

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the response strategies, actions, and styles of supporting student autonomy employed by early childhood education teachers. The pilot study discussed was conducted using the vignette method based on the Problems in Schools Questionnaire. The highest scores were achieved by the highly autonomy-supportive style, while the lowest scores were recorded for the highly controlling style. The article emphasizes the need to deepen teachers' knowledge and skills regarding modern methods of motivating students, building relationships, maintaining a balance between support and expectations, using activating methods, and reducing highly controlling teaching styles.

Keywords:

autonomy, teaching style, early years teacher, student

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Katarzyna Błażejewska, Students’ homework in early school education , Pedagogical Forum: Vol. 10 No. 1 (2020)

Download files

pdf

Citation rules

Błażejewska, K. (2025). Supporting Student Autonomy in Early School Education: Teaching Strategies, Challenges, and Conclusions from Pilot Studies. Pedagogical Forum, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2025.2.29

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Deci E.L., Ryan R.M. (2000a). The „what” and „why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. „Psychological Inquiry”, 11, pp. 227–268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Google Scholar

Deci E.L., Ryan R.M. (2000b). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. „American Psychologist”, 55, pp. 68–78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.68
Google Scholar

Deci E.L., Ryan R.M. (2002). Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic dialectical perspective. In: Deci E.L., Ryan R.M. (Eds.). Handbook of self-determination research. New York: The University of Rochester Press, pp. 3–33.
Google Scholar

Deci E.L., Schwartz A.J., Sheinman L., Ryan R.M. (1981). An instrument to assess adults’ orientations toward control versus autonomy with children: Reflections on intrinsic motivation and perceived competence. „Journal of Educational Psychology”, 73, pp. 642–650. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.73.5.642
Google Scholar

Filipiak E. (2025). Samoregulacja w uczeniu się. (Nie)możliwa w kulturze współczesnej szkoły na etapie klas początkowych? „Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji”, No 60, pp. 7–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26881/pwe.2025.60.01
Google Scholar

Jezierska B. (2003). Autonomia. In: Pilch T. (Ed.). Encyklopedia pedagogiczna XXI wieku. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie Żak, pp. 244–246.
Google Scholar

Kordziński J. (2022). Nowoczesne nauczanie. Warszawa: Wolters Kluwer.
Google Scholar

Kwieciński Z. (2021). Edukacja w galaktyce znaczeń. In: Kwieciński Z., Śliwerski B. (Eds.). Pedagogika. Podręcznik akademicki. Warszawa: PWN, pp. 41–53.
Google Scholar

Lejzerowicz M., Galbarczyk M. (2020). Autonomia ucznia a proces indywidualizacji w edukacji włączającej. „Rozprawy Społeczne”, 14(3), pp. 49–62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29316/rs/125029
Google Scholar

Nowakowska-Siuta R. (2006). Style nauczania. In: Pilch T. (Ed.). Encyklopedia pedagogiczna XXI wieku. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie Żak, pp. 1105–1107.
Google Scholar

Reeve J., Bolt E., Cai Y. (1999). Autonomy-supportive teachers: How they teach and motivate students. „Journal of Educational Psychology”, 91, pp. 537–548. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.91.3.537
Google Scholar

Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. „Contemporary Educational Psychology”, 61, 101860. Accessed April 6, 2025, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361476X20300254?via%3Dihub DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
Google Scholar

Szymański M.J. (2014). Edukacyjne problemy współczesności. Kraków – Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Impuls.
Google Scholar

Uszyńska-Jarmoc J. (2011). Rodzaje motywacji w procesie uczenia się przez całe życie – nowe perspektywy teoretyczne i metodologiczne. In: Cudowska A. (Ed.). Kierunki rozwoju edukacji w zmieniającej się przestrzeni społecznej. Księga Jubileuszowa dedykowana profesorowi doktorowi habilitowanemu Michałowi Balickiemu. Białystok: Wydawnictwo Uniwersyteckie Trans Humana, pp. 506–516.
Google Scholar