ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines, as a case-study from which generalisations are tentatively drawn, a validated curriculum designed with the explicit purpose of developing personal autonomy in teachers, their students and their colleagues. The curriculum, predicated on a national (UK) research and development project into teachers’ in-service needs in personal, social and health education, has been piloted, evaluated and disseminated nationally as an example of excellence. More recently, its underlying philosophical principles and defining methodologies have been adopted by several countries undergoing transitional ideological, political and economic changes in pursuit of democracy and market. There is reason to believe, therefore, that the distinctive features of this programme for personal autonomy have validity and applicability beyond current ethnocentric considerations.
