The impact of teachers' educational philosophy tendencies on their curriculum autonomy

In this study, the effect of teachers' educational philosophy tendencies on their curriculum autonomy was investigated using a correlational research design. The study's population consisted of teachers 258 teachers drawn from various schools using a simple random sampling method. The data were collected through Educational Philosophy Tendency Scale and Teachers' Autonomy on Curriculum Scale. According to the results, progressive educational philosophy appears to be the most frequently adopted tendency by teachers, while essentialist educational philosophy appears to be the least widely adopted. Teachers have a high level of procedural autonomy, which is followed by autonomy in professional development, evaluation autonomy, and autonomy in planning. There are weak and moderately significant correlations between teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and their curriculum autonomy. Also, teachers' educational philosophy tendencies are a strong predictor of curriculum autonomy. Progressive educational philosophy tendency predicts procedural autonomy and professional development autonomy significantly. Reconstructionist, essentialist, and perennialist educational philosophy tendencies, on the other hand, have no impact on curriculum autonomy. In this context, progressive educational philosophy adopted by the teachers influences how they structure their professional development and how they carry out the learning-teaching process without relying heavily on external factors.


Educational Philosophy and Educational Philosophy Tendencies
The word philosophy is derived from the Greek root philosophia, which combines the words philo (love) and sophia (wisdom). The literal definition of philosophy (Cox, 2014;Sönmez, 2019) is "the love of wisdom" or "seeking wisdom." It's difficult to point to a single, precise definition of the term (Bilhan, 1991;Heimsoeth, 2011), because there are as many definitions as there are philosophers. In some respects, the viewpoints of philosophers from various geographies and time periods can be considered as a role in the establishment of variations in their ideas on what philosophy is (Yazıcı, 2016).
The challenges in defining philosophy are, in fact, one source of the definition's diversity. These various viewpoints have the potential to produce extremely rich content for philosophy readers in the future. In this regard, it is vital to concentrate on philosophy in light of some fundamental definitions. Philosophy, according to Cevizci (2015, p. 176), is "the nature of existence as a whole, knowledge, and the method of life, founded on reasoning in essence, significantly systematic and critical thought." Çuçen (2018, p. 47) characterizes it as an activity of investigating and knowing the truth. Comparable to Çuçen's definition, Politzer (2009, p. 28) also states philosophy as the extension of the sciences. Based on these definitions, philosophy seems to be grounded in inquiry, which is carried out systematically through reasoning.
Philosophy of education is the philosophical study of education, often understood as a field of applied philosophy (Günay, 2019) that benefits from established branches of philosophy in metaphysics, epistemology and axiology (Gutek, 2006). According to the famous philosopher and theorist John Dewey, the philosophy of education is the most important and main branch of philosophy, in truth, it stands as the philosophy of life (Noddings, 2016). Güçlü et al. (2008) describe the philosophy of education as an area of activity in which educational issues are evaluated and applied from a philosophical perspective. The philosophy of education constitutes a branch of philosophy that examines and analyzes the concepts related to education (Cevizci, 2014) to raise and address questions of educational aims, methods, and problems, and of educational policy, pedagogy, and curriculum (Yazıcı, 2016). The philosophy of education can be accepted as the interpretation of the facts and concepts covering the issues related to education with a philosophical attitude.
When we look at the history of educational sciences, we can see the effects of four dominant educational philosophies in the literature; perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, reconstructionism (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014). The former two are traditional educational philosophies, while the latter two constitute contemporary educational philosophies (Coşkun & Taneri, 2021;Demirel, 2007).
The traditional educational philosophies require that the existing structure be preserved and maintained from generation to generation (Alanoğlu et al., 2021). The teacher is the only guide and authority of the teaching-learning process and the important course subjects are prioritized to be delivered in due time (Ornstein & Levine, 2008). Teachers thoroughly run traditional teaching methods and techniques in the teaching-learning process, and use teaching materials such as blackboards, chalk, and textbooks (Sönmez, 2019). Perennialism discerns from essentialism in means of the content structure. In perennialism the major works of western civilization should be at the core of the curriculum, and that is severely criticized by the Essentialists. Essentialists give particular importance to the efficient transfer of the society"s cultural structures to the next generations (Arslan, 2017;Ellis, 2015).
Contemporary educational philosophies ground the learner at the center of the learningteaching process (Dewey, 2007). The interests and needs of the learner are prioritized, meanwhile, the teacher acts as a guide (Ergün, 2015;Sönmez, 2019). Change is the basis of progressivism and reconstructionism, teachers who prefer adopting these educational philosophies need to improve themselves professionally and keep up with everlasting change (Alanoğlu et al., 2021). Although progressivism and reconstructionism have similar philosophical foundations (Hürrem-Sünney, 2018); the former focuses on individuals, while the latter centers around social transformation (Dewey, 2012).

Teacher Autonomy
Teacher autonomy has reinforced its popularity in the last two decades, shortly after the emergence of the teacher empowerment construct in organisations (Short, 1992;Wilson, 1993). Given the continuous pace of reform in education (Grenville-Cleave & Boniwell, 2012), teacher autonomy is a constantly evolving concept that is difficult to fit into a single definition. In studies conducted on teacher autonomy, researchers have defined the concept of teacher autonomy in parallel with their own research, without losing the essence of autonomy (Bizmiye, 2020). Several studies have cited the necessity for promoting teaching to the status of a profession by empowering the teachers and giving them the autonomy in their work environment (Anderson, 1987;Pearson & Hall, 1993;Short, 1994).
If teachers are to be empowered and exalted as professionals, then like other professionals, teachers must have the freedom to prescribe the best treatment for their students as doctors/lawyers do for their patients/clients; and the freedom to do such has been defined by some as teacher autonomy (Pearson & Moomaw, 2005, p. 38). Short (1992) emphasizes the concept of autonomy as one of the empirically-derived dimensions of teacher empowerment; which will help teachers to have a sense of flexibility to make certain decisions over scheduling, curriculum, textbooks, instructional planning, and etc. Teacher autonomy can be used to express the freedom that teachers have while performing their actions in the teaching process. At this point, autonomous teachers have freedom in planning and implementation of the required goals and objectives during their classes. In addition, they have important roles and duties in decision-making processes on critical issues. Teacher autonomy has two sub-dimensions, according to all definitions and explanations: first, teachers can take independent actions when constructing the educational environment, and second, they can be independent from external controls (Yolcu, 2019).
Teacher autonomy can be examined in five different levels (Freidman, 1999, p. 62-63):  No autonomy: Teachers' opinions are not sought when it comes to planning, implementing, and assessing instruction, as well as participating in school activities, and they are not allowed to act independently.  Scant autonomy: Teachers are given limited authority within the constraints of school administrators' defined instructional programs, and they are given a limited range of options.  Moderate autonomy: Teachers are allowed to establish alternate plans, produce new ideas, and construct programs, but they must follow a certain system and receive the appropriate authority to do so.  High autonomy: Within the bounds of general laws and principles, teachers are given extensive authority to develop and implement new educational programs, strategies, and methods.  Complete autonomy: Within the bounds of universally recognized moral and legal standards, teachers are given complete authority in developing and implementing new instructional programs, strategies, and methods. Teacher autonomy has been divided into curriculum autonomy and general autonomy (Pearson & Hall, 1993); curriculum autonomy deals with being able to decide what is taught, while general autonomy addresses teachers" rights to make decisions referring to pedagogy and classroom management (Prichard & Moore, 2016). In this study, we will focus mainly on the curriculum autonomy to see the indications if teachers have the freedom to make decisions individually or collectively on their curriculum practices.
Teacher autonomy is generally portrayed in a favourable aspect in recent studies, since it is positively associated with job satisfaction, empowerment, engagement, and professionalism, and adversely correlated with emotional weariness . There is no doubt that teacher autonomy is a crucial factor in explaining good practices in schooling (Paulsrud & Wermke, 2019), as the latest studies support that teachers" autonomous behaviors are ranking high priority in terms of nurturing development at schools (Pearson & Moomaw, 2005). Regarding the previous studies on teacher autonomy, we can find tremendous data on; their autonomy in the teaching process (Littlewood, 1996), the autonomy regarding their professional development (Short, 1994;Pearson and Moomaw, 2005), their freedom to decide on matters related to professional communication (Wilson, 1993), their involvement in the planning and management processes (Bizmiye, 2020) and the implementation phase (Mustafa & Cullingford, 2008). With regard to the literature in Turkey, just one study has been found examining the autonomy regarding the curriculum (Yolcu, 2021) from an organizational perspective. We plan to spread the issue from teachers" philosophical tendencies of curriculum practices to curriculum autonomies.

The Relationship between Teachers' Educational Philosophy Tendencies and Curriculum Autonomies
The most debated and emphasized concerns in the study of educational philosophy and educational theories are what the education is, what it should be, and how it should be provided. Education philosophers use a systematic approach to interpret these questions. It is likely that teachers, as the system's most significant transmitters, have perspectives on the concerns discussed in educational philosophy. As, teachers are believed to be the most important component in the learning-teaching process when it comes to implementing curriculum (Alsubaie, 2016).
Educational philosophy plays a vital role in the design and implementation of several aspects connected to curriculum (Hotaman, 2017). Teachers' philosophical attitudes toward education are linked to their curriculum autonomy in this regard. From an epistemological perspective, classical philosophical approaches are dominated by the assumption that knowledge is constant and valid in all situations and ages. Teaching certain works forms the basis of the teaching process (Gutek, 2006). Traditional educational philosophy tendencies such as perennialism and essentialism are adopted by teachers who use a teaching approach that ignores the student's active engagement in the lessons (Demirel, 2007). As a result, they promote a more authoritarian style of classroom management. In this regard, it may be said that teachers with traditional philosophical tendencies are more strongly connected to the curriculum, and hence do not tend to flexible applications in curriculum implementation. In other words, because the curriculum is delivered through a centralized structure, teachers who are traditionally inclined do not prefer making their own decisions. Teachers with modern educational philosophies such as progressivism and reconstructionism, on the other hand, prioritize the students' interests and needs by promoting active involvement in the class. As a result, teachers collaborate with students to carry out the learning-teaching process (Sönmez, 2019). From an epistemological perspective, modern philosophical perspectives are dominated by the assumption that knowledge does not have a fixed and unchanging structure and may be modified according to the context or situation. Here, the individual creates the knowledge (Dewey, 2012;Gutek, 2006). Teachers with modern educational philosophy tendencies could use more flexible practices in curriculum implementation. In other words, since they are open to change, teachers with a modern tendency may tend to make their own decisions in the implementation of the curriculum.
In Turkey, there is state control over school and classroom curriculum decision making, so the aims, goals and objectives of education come along with the prescribed content for the teachers.
Each curriculum related to a specific subject area contains clues to the roles and responsibilities of teachers which are related to the desired teaching and learning paradigm. The central curriculum policies may prevent teachers from making content or instructional decisions. Teacher empowerment supporters argue that teachers are experiencing a loss of control over curriculum, mainly concerning the negative effects of central curriculum control on pedagogical effectiveness (Archbald & Porter, 1994). The autonomous teachers who arrange and choose the teaching methods and materials during teaching in their classrooms will improve the quality of education and implemention of their decisions is an important factor for nurturing the school environment (Friedman, 1999). However, teachers in Turkey generally think that they are unimportant in the planning of the education process (Boyacı, 2010) and they do not feel responsible for transforming, changing and improving the process of educational activities because of the controlled curriculum regulations. This kind of weakening in teachers' autonomy may result in their deprofessionalization (Frostenson, 2015). The regulations and resources provided by the state via curriculums can empower or de-professionalise teachers, the context in the Turkish Ministry of Education deserves a deeper concern. Our concern related to that issue grows out of the teachers" philosophical tendencies, and focuses on whether or not these tendencies affect their autonomy on the curriculum practices.

The Purpose of the Research
This study aims to examine the relation between teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and curriculum autonomies in order to give both teachers and policymakers with helpful data about curriculum studies. The following questions were addressed in this context: 1. What are the educational philosophy tendencies of the teachers, as well as their views on curriculum autonomy? 2. Do teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and their perceptions of curriculum autonomy have a significant relationship?
3. Does the educational philosophy of teachers have an impact on their perceptions of curriculum autonomy?

Research Design
This study was designed in a correlational research design to analyze the relationships between teachers" educational philosophy tendencies and their curriculum autonomies. The goal of correlational research is to figure out how one variable's characteristic affects or is influenced by one or more other variables (Leedy & Ormrod, 2012).

Sample
The research was carried out in Eskişehir, Turkey, during the academic year 2021-2022. The population the teachers working in high schools in Odunpazarı and Tepebaşı districts of Eskişehir. Because it was difficult and expensive to reach every unit in the study population, a sampling method was used (Neuman, 2011). The sample of the study consisted of 258 teachers, who were selected by simple random sampling method, which is among probability sampling methods.
According to the data on the gender of the teachers who participated in the study, 69.8 percent are female and 30.2 percent are male. Furthermore, 23.3 percent have 1-5 years of service, 22.1 percent have 6-10 years, 17.4 percent have 11-15 years, 16.7 percent have 16-20 years, and 20.5 percent have +21 years of service.

Educational Philosophy Tendency Scale
Aytaç and Uyangör (2020) used two sample groups to produce the Educational Philosophy Tendency Scale after the literature review and the expert opinions on the item pool. The data from the first sample was used for exploratory factor analysis, item analysis, reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis, while the data from the second sample was only used for confirmatory factor analysis. The exploratory factor analysis suggested a scale with four dimensions and 36 items, which was confirmed by the the confirmatory factor analysis. The subsclaes are named as; Progressive Educational Philosophy Tendency (PREPT), Reconstructionist Educational Philosophy Tendency (REPT), Essentialist Educational Philosophy Tendency (EEPT), and Perennialist Educational Philosophy Tendency (PEPT). Fit scores ( 1.92, RMSEA: 0.041, CFI: 0.92, NNFI: 0.91, GFI: 0.90, AGFI: 0.88, RMR: 0.055, SRMR: 0.058) were found to be within acceptable limits after doing the confirmatory factor analysis with the initial sample set. The second group's fit values were similarly within acceptable ranges ( : 1.95, RMSEA: 0.049, CFI: 0.91, NNFI: 0.90, GFI: 0.86, AGFI: 0.85, RMR: 0.050, SRMR: 0.058). The reliability analysis revealed that the Cronbach's alpha value for the entire scale was 0.83; 0.89 for the Progressive Educational Philosophy Tendency (13 items), 0.84 for the Reconstructionist Educational Philosophy Tendency (9 items), 0.82 for the Essentialist Educational Philosophy Tendency (7 items), and 0.66 for the Perennialist Educational Philosophy Tendency (7 items). The Cronbach Alpha values of the scale calculated for this study were found to vary between .86 and .73 and the overall reliability was .80. Furthermore, the original scale was created in collaboration with pre-service teachers, but the current study is conducted with teachers. In this regard, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the data from the current study, and the fit index values ( : 1.842, RMSEA: 0.057, RMR: 0.053, SRMR: 0.066) were determined to be within acceptable ranges (Sümer, 2000). Appendix 1 contains the confirmatory factor analysis diagram.

Teachers' Autonomy on Curriculum Scale
Yolcu and Vural (2020) developed the Teachers' Autonomy on Curriculum Scale. The scale development study's sample consists of 178 science teachers. Following the review of the literature, an item pool of 50 items was created, and the number of items was determined to be 29 based on expert opinions. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, a four-dimensional scale with 13 items was revealed; Autonomy in Professional Development (APD), Procedural Autonomy (PA), Autonomy in Planning (AP), and Evaluation Autonomy (EA) are the names given to the scale's dimensions. The fit index values (χ2/df: 1.47, RMSEA: 0.052, RMR: 0.05, SRMR: 0.06, CFI: 0.98, GFI: 0.93, AGFI: 0.89) were determined to be acceptable as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha values were calculated to be 0.73 for APD, 0.81 for the PA, and 0.75 for both AP and EA dimensions, while it was .82 for the overall scale. Within the scope of this study, Cronbach's alpha values were calculated as 0.69 for the APD sub-scale, 0.75 for the PA sub-scale, 0.69 for the AP sub-scale, 0.84 for the EA sub-scale, and 0.84 for the overall scale. The fit index values ( : 2.436, RMSEA: 0.075, RMR: 0.058, SRMR: 0.058) were found to be within acceptable ranges using confirmatory factor analysis (Sümer, 2000). Appendix 2 contains the confirmatory factor analysis diagram in this context. The approvals were taken from the researchers who developed this scales for the current study.

Data Collection
Since it was impossible to perform face-to-face meetings during the pandemic process, data collection tools were prepared by Google Docs, and sent to the teachers randomly via social media platforms in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. At the beginning of the forms, the teachers were given the necessary information, they were also informed that it would take approximately 10 minutes to fill the form and the process would be on a voluntary basis. When the number of scales completed by teachers reached 270, new forms were not received for over a week and the data collection process was finished. Overall, 270 responses were checked, and 258 of them were taken into the analysis process.

Data Analysis
During the data analysis, the normal distribution of the data was first examined; the kurtosis and skewness values were found to be within acceptable ranges. The data set was then checked for compatibility with the assumptions of the multiple linear regression analysis. The correlations between the predictive factors were investigated, with the highest correlation being 0.66. According to Büyüköztürk (2007), the binary correlation values between the predictor variables should be at least.80 in order to discuss the problem of multicollinearity. VIF (Variance Inflation Factor) and TV (Tolerace Value) values, on the other hand, are two factors that indicate whether there is a multicollinearity problem (Çokluk et al., 2014). These values were analyzed in this context, and it was concluded that there was no multicollinearity problem. As a result, there is no multicollinearity between the predictor variables.

Findings
In Table 1, descriptive statistics of variables indicate the results for research question 1. Table  shows the arithmetic mean and standard deviation data regarding teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and curriculum autonomy. Progressive Educational Philosophy Tendency ( ̅ ) has the highest mean, and Essentialist Educational Philosophy Tendency ( ̅ ) has the lowest mean. It is examined that the means of the sub-dimensions" scores of the curriculum autonomy scale vary betwecn 4.27 and 3.85. Procedural Autonomy ( ̅ ) has the highest mean, followed by Autonomy in Professional Development ( ̅ ), Evaluation Autonomy ( ̅ ) and the Autonomy in Planning ( ̅ ). Table 2 illustrates the results of Pearson product-moment correlation between teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and curriculum autonomy. There seems a low positive significant correlation between the PREPT sub-scale and the APD ( ), EA ( ) and AP ( ) sub-scales; while there is a moderate significant correlation between the PREPT sub-scale and PA ( ) subscale. PREPT sub-scale and APD ( ), EA ( ), AP ( ) subscales had low positive correlation; however, the correlation values prove a moderate positive significant relationship between PREPT sub-scale and PA ( 1) sub-scale. While there was no significant relationship between EEPT subscale and PA ( ), EA ( ) and AP ( ) sub-scales; APD ( ) sub-scale seemed to have a low negative and significant correlation with EEPT sub-scale. PEPT subscale had no significant relationship with APD ( ), PA ( ), EA ( ), and AP ( ) subscales. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted in accordance with four sub-scales of curriculum autonomy to determine the predictive effects of teachers' educational philosophy tendencies on curriculum autonomy. Table 3 represents the results of the multiple linear regression analysis regarding the predictive effect of educational philosophy tendencies on the autonomy in professional development (APD) sub-scale. The autonomy in professional development (APD) has a moderately significant correlation with all sub-scales of educational philosophy tendencies ( , , ). Educational philosophy tendencies explain 9.7 % of the variation in the autonomy in professional development (APD). According to the standardized regression coefficients, the relative importance of educational philosophy tendencies on the autonomy in professional development (APD) sub-scale is as PREPT ( ), REPT ( ), EEPT ( ), PEPT ( ). When the significance tests of the regression coefficients were examined, only the progressive educational philosophy tendency (PREPT) was found to have a predictive effect on autonomy in professional development (APD). Table 4 presents the findings of a multiple linear regression analysis that looked at the effect of educational philosophy tendencies on the procedural autonomy (PA) subscale. Accordingly, all sub-scales of educational philosophy tendencies together show a moderately significant relationship with the procedural autonomy (PA) ( ). Educational philosophy tendencies account for 12.8% of the variation in procedural autonomy (PA). According to the standardized regression coefficients, the relative importance of educational philosophy tendencies on the procedural autonomy (PA) is as follows; PREPT ( ), REPT ( ), EEPT ( ), PEPT ). Only the progressive education philosophy tendency (PREPT) sub-scale had a predictive effect on the procedural autonomy (PA) sub-scale, according to the regression coefficients' significance tests.
The results of the multiple linear regression analysis on the predictive effect of educational philosophy tendencies on the evaluation autonomy (EA) sub-scale are shown in Table 5. Table 5 shows the results regarding the predictive effect of educational philosophy tendencies on the evaluation autonomy (EA) sub-scale. As a result, the evaluation autonomy (EA) has a weak meaningful relationship with all dimensions of educational philosophy tendencies combined ( , ). Educational philosophy tendencies explain 4.8% of the variation in the evaluation autonomy (EA) sub-scale. Based on the standardized regression coefficients, the relative importance of educational philosophy tendencies on the evaluation autonomy (EA) sub-scale is; PREPT (β= .155), REPT (β= .073), EEPT (β= .085), PEPT (β= .039). When the regression coefficients' significance tests were run, it was discovered that none of the dimensions of educational philosophy tendencies had a predictive effect on the evaluation autonomy (EA) sub-scale. Table 6 displays the results of the multiple linear regression analysis on the predictive effect of educational philosophy tendencies on the Autonomy in Planning (AP) sub-scale.  Table 6 presents the results regarding the predictive effect of educational philosophy tendencies on autonomy in planning (AP). As a result, autonomy in planning (AP) sub-scale has a weak meaningful relationship with all dimensions of educational philosophy tendencies considered ( ). The autonomy in planning (AP) factor explains 7% of the variation in educational philosophy tendencies scale. According to the standardized regression coefficients, educational philosophy tendencies have the following relative influence on the autonomy in planning (AP) sub-scale: PREPT ( ), REPT ( ), EEPT ( ), PEPT ( ).The significance tests of the regression coefficients revealed that none of the dimensions of the philosophy of education tendencies seemed to have a predictive effect on autonomy in planning (AP) sub-scale.

Discussion and Conclusion
The three main purposes of the research were; (1) to determine the descriptive statistics related to teachers' the educational philosophies and curriculum autonomies, (2) to examine the relationships between teachers' educational philosophy tendencies and their curriculum autonomies, and (3) to predict the effects of teachers' education philosophy tendencies on their curriculum autonomy.
According to the findings of the first research question, teachers primarily had progressive educational philosophy tendencies, with essentialism being the philosophy of education they adopted the least. Teachers, in this regard, have an educational strategy that places students' interests and needs at the center of the learning-teaching process. Similar results were found in a number of research (Berkant & Özaslan, 2019;Coşkun & Taneri, 2021;Çelik & Zelyurt, 2021;Eğmir & Çelik, 2019;Er, 2020;Irgatoğlu & Kırmızı, 2021;Kahveci, 2021;Kaya & Kaya, 2017;Yargı & Sıvacı, 2021). The curriculums that have been implemented since the 2004-2005 academic year (Özden, 2014) are based on the constructivist educational approach. That transformation in the Turkish educational system may be the reason underlying the teachers" mostly adopting progressive educational ideologies. Pragmatist philosophy serves as the foundation of the constructivist education approach (Aslan & Aydın, 2016). The progressive education conceptual framework is based on pragmatist philosophy (Dewey, 2007(Dewey, , 2012. In this regard, it is unavoidable that teachers who have spent years in the new education system have been impacted by the theory that underlies it and have shown tendencies in this direction. The level of curriculum autonomy of teachers is also addressed within the scope of the research's first question. As a result, teachers seem to have reported high levels of curriculum autonomy, which is really a surprising result. By the way, teachers have the highest score for procedural autonomy, which is consistent with the previous studies (Yolcu, 2019). In this regard, it can be claimed that teachers tend to engage in more independent behaviors when it comes to the efficient implementation of the learningteaching process. Flexibility in conducting instructional tasks, according to Pearson and Hall (1993), is crucial in bringing teaching to a professional status. Even if teachers' general autonomy is limited, having freedom during the curriculum application phase enables them to define and control instruction internally rather than through external sources. By the way, teachers have the lowest score for autonomy in planning, it is mostly because of the centralized curriculum application. Here, Öztürk (2012) also asserts that teachers have more freedom to express their personal preferences and decisions on instructional activities and teaching styles during the application process than they do in the annual instructional plans. Eurydice Report (2008) underlines that in the majority of European countries, official curricula govern course content, hence the degree of autonomy granted to teachers is mostly determined by the curricula's structure.
The relationship between the variables was investigated in the context of the research's second question. According to the findings, significant relationships between educational philosophy tendencies and curriculum autonomy were discovered at low and medium levels. As a result, the progressive education philosophy tendency has a moderately significant positive relationship with procedural autonomy and a low level of positive correlation with autonomy in professional development, autonomy in planning, and evaluation autonomy.
While there is a weak positive relationship between reconstructionist educational philosophy tendencies and autonomy in professional development, autonomy in planning, and evaluation autonomy, reconstructionist educational philosophy tendency and procedural autonomy have a moderately significant positive correlation. While there is a low-level significant relationship between essentialist educational philosophy tendencies and autonomy in professional development, there is no significant relationship with the other sub-scales. Conversely, the perennialist educational philosophy tendency has no significant relationship with any dimension of curriculum autonomy. In this regard, it may be claimed that progressivism is the educational philosophy with the strongest link to curriculum autonomy. The shift in educational reforms necessitates that the teacher take on the role of a guide, with the primary responsibility of rearranging the teaching context to meet the needs and interests of the students. The Turkish education system, on the other hand, is dominated by an approach that defines curriculum planning and implementation centrally and very tightly. Implementing curriculum reform goals necessitates expanding the teacher's role and autonomy in defining and planning teaching activities (Öztürk, 2012).
The predictive correlations between the variables were investigated as part of the research's third question. As a result, progressive educational philosophy tendencies are linked to procedural autonomy and autonomy in professional development. Educational philosophy tendencies such as reconstructionism, essentialism, and perennialism, on the other hand, show no significant predictive effect on curriculum autonomy. In this context, teachers' progressive education philosophical tendencies have an impact on their ability to make their own judgments in the execution of the learning-teaching process and the maintenance of their professional development without relying on external influences. An effective educator is someone who works to improve himself in terms of his career and personality on a constant basis, and who explores and analyzes opportunities to do so (Seferoğlu, 2004). In that sense, teachers need to be able to organize vocational courses, seminars, and conferences for their professional and personal development. Also, they should be encouraged to participate in the studies that they necessitate, they should be able to participate in the studies whenever they want, and they should be able to participate in inservice trainings on their own terms. Teachers" beliefs and attitudes are some of the factors influencing their teaching practices, and their philosophical perspectives, according to Tezci and Kervan (2019), can influence their behaviors and teaching practices and this is also related to their autonomies. For this reason, it can be said that teachers who adopt contemporary educational philosophies use their autonomy more than teachers who adopt traditional educational philosophies. Thus teachers" traditional beliefs and attitudes, as well as the lack of knowledge, skills, and abilities, are considered to be among the barriers to their autonomies during the teaching process. Many study findings support the argument; for example, according to the findings of Kozikoğlu and Uygun (2018), teachers' educational philosophy determines their curriculum design approaches. According to this, teachers' progressive philosophical tendencies inspire learner-centered curriculum design approaches. Given that teachers who use a learnercentered curriculum design approach can make curriculum changes by considering learners' needs during the learning-teaching process (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014), the findings of this study are consistent with the literature.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research
This research was conducted by correlational research design based on quantitative data. In future studies, longitudinal and in-depth results can be obtained with qualitative studies that can enable deep observation of the practice of philosophical tendencies in teaching and learning processes. Also using mixed method research can result in valuable and various data on the issue. The sample of this research consists of teachers working in the National Ministry of Education, private schools can be added into research to make comparisons with the public schools. This correlational study is limited to teachers" perceptions at a specific time period, during the first period of face-toface education, just after the long-term online education. Given that this study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers" perceptions may have been affected by the special circumstances (compulsory distance education, use of digital tools, etc.), which may result in weakening in teachers' autonomy because of the controlled regulations both in curriculum and in the whole process.
Through the findings obtained as a result of the analyses, suggestions can be listed as follows:  As it is seen that the progressive education philosophy tendency has a moderately significant positive relationship with procedural autonomy and a low positive correlation with the other types of autonomies, in-service trainings can be prepared to assist teachers become more autonomous. And curriculums in undergraduate and postgraduate pedagogical formation education might be changed to promote the autonomy of prospective teachers in Education Faculties.  With reference to the effect between progressive educational philosophy tendencies and procedural autonomy and autonomy in professional development, teachers should be encouraged to attend professional development programs, master or Phd studies, vocational courses, seminars, and conferences.

Disclosure Statement.
In accordance with conflict of interest policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper. I have disclosed those interests fully to journal, and I have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts.