Materials evaluation and teacher autonomy

This chapter investigates the role of materials evaluation in developing teacher autonomy. Staff in a university self-access centre were asked to apply an evaluative framework written by the authors to a random selection of study materials in order to establish how appropriate the materials were for independent study, so that decisions around the adaptation and future purchasing of materials could be made. The teachers’ personal reflections of the evaluation process were also recorded and these showed the positive effects of involving teachers in decisions that had previously been made for them.