The autonomy vacuum: A qualitative study of how agency and identity shape curriculum autonomy enactment in Greece's centralised education system

Teacher autonomy is treated as a key indicator of professionalism. However, scholarship has concentrated on autonomy under high‐stakes accountability, offering less insight into centralised systems where formal autonomy co‐exists with weak developmental infrastructure. This qualitative interpretivist study examines Greek primary teachers' enactment of curriculum autonomy within prescribed curricula and textbooks, alongside a formal 30% curriculum space in a centralised governance setting. Drawing on interviews with eight teachers across four primary schools, thematic analysis examines how autonomy, perceived/achieved agency and professional identity as positioning shape curriculum practice. Teachers described an ‘autonomy vacuum’: autonomy existed on paper, but enactment was rarely subject to pedagogical dialogue, developmental guidance or collective curriculum sense‐making. Within this condition, autonomy was enacted in two contrasting modes. The first, ‘pedagogical responsibility’, used the 30% space for purposeful professional judgement and aligned with an ‘extended’ understanding of professionalism. The second, ‘procedural manoeuvring’, confined enactment to practical–evaluative adjustments within familiar repertoires and aligned with more ‘restricted’ professional narratives. The autonomy vacuum concept thus shows that, when local supports are weak, identity positioning and gaps between perceived and enacted agency become especially consequential for what counts as legitimate curriculum action. This in turn contributes to uneven enactment and variable learning opportunities for pupils. Implications point to embedding autonomy provisions in routine collegial curriculum dialogue and practice‐based developmental support, secured through school‐ and local‐level structures. In this way, curriculum enactment can become a shared professional responsibility across stakeholders—without performative compliance pressures and without leaving an autonomy vacuum in practice. Context and implications Rationale for this study While autonomy is widely promoted as an indicator of professionalism, less is known about how it becomes usable in highly centralised systems. This study examines how formally granted curriculum autonomy is enacted in Greek primary schools. Why the new findings matter The study identifies an ‘autonomy vacuum’: curriculum autonomy is formally available (30%) but unevenly monitored and supported at school/local level. Under these conditions, teachers' enactments vary substantially, shaping the scope and depth of curriculum experiences made available to pupils. The findings show that autonomy on paper does not guarantee meaningful curriculum action. Implications for researchers, practitioners and policy‐makers Researchers should move beyond measuring the ‘amount’ of autonomy and examine the infrastructures that make autonomy usable (e.g. routines for curriculum sense‐making, developmental support and legitimisation of judgement), including how autonomy, agency and professional identity interact. School leaders should cultivate structured spaces for curriculum‐facing dialogue and developmental feedback so that autonomy is shared and developed collectively, rather than left to individual teachers. Policy‐makers in centralised systems should recognise that granting formal curriculum space is insufficient without sustained professional learning structures and instructional leadership that support interpretive curriculum work.