The Representation of Learner Autonomy and Learner Independence in Organizational Culture

My focus in this chapter is on how learner autonomy is interpreted by people involved in language education; and in particular how it is represented within the culture of a particular ELT organization which has made a concerted attempt to promote learner autonomy through its curriculum. Wright (1994) notes that the concept of culture has been used in the field of organizational studies to analyse not only ethnic differences within an organization (for example by Hofstede, 1990), but also organizational cultures, including “informal concepts, attitudes and values” (p. 2; cf. Morgan, 1986) and “formal organizational values and practices imposed by management” (ibid.; cf. Peters and Waterman, 1986). These interpretations of culture share the characteristics established in the introduction to this volume (systems of meaning which are communal to some extent); but they also share a concern with managing these meanings in some way.