Vocational STEM Teachers’ Teaching Autonomy Attitude: A Structural Model of Perceived Past Behavior, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Teaching Autonomy Support

Abstract

Research on teacher autonomy in STEM has been a popular topic in the field. In order to explore the factors influencing STEM teachers’ attitudes toward teaching autonomy in vocational education and its structure, this study constructed a conceptual model of influencing teachers’ attitudes toward teaching autonomy. By analyzing 590 valid questionnaires, this study used SEM (structural equation modeling) to verify the validity of the model. It was found that the effects of perceived past behavior (PPB) and subjective norms (SN) on teaching autonomy attitudes (TA) were both significant and positively correlated, and perceived teaching autonomy support (PTS) can significantly and positively influence PPB and SN. Additionally, PPB significantly and positively influenced SN. This study fills the gap of vocational education teachers in the STEM teacher research population, and the findings are useful for teachers and school organizations to improve teacher autonomy attitudes.