be able to achieve not only personal but also the community goals. In this study, teachers‟ autonomy in selecting textbooks means the teachers‟ awareness of the
professional needs as well as of the demands of the administrators and curricula which then lead them to the responsibility to select textbooks which best suit to
the needs and demands.
6. Lived Experience
Clarifying the term lived experience used in this study is significant to attain the readers‟ understanding. Lived experience covers the significant events
in the past which make a person what he she is today. This kind of experience accumulates over time, teaches us lessons and has effects by shaping or
influencing our responses to the world. Manen 1990 reveals that each person has a unique set of experiences which are regarded as truth and influence the behavior
of the individual. In line with this, individual lived experience refers to the lived experience of an individual which is considered as unique from one individual to
another. To be more specific, the teachers‟ individual lived experience in selecting textbooks can be said as the lived experience of the teacher himselfherself,
without being compared or related to the lived experience of the other teachers. Further, Manen 1990 explains that the most fundamental part of the
study of lived experience is the narrative reflections on the meaningful lived experiences and daily real practices in the real world reality in order to enhance
someone‟s understanding and knowledge. In addition, he mentions that lived experience can be seen from a phenomenological perspective by questioning
What does a phenomenon mean? or What is the essence of a phenomenon? It does not just clarify How does someone do about a phenomenon? Related to
teachers‟ lived experience of selecting textbooks, it less concentrates to how a teacher selects textbooks, but it focuses on the real meaning of selecting
textbooks. In other words, it can be understood that the researcher should examine the teachers‟ experience of selecting textbooks without leaving the consideration
of the other facts because those facts must be connected to and affect each other. There are individual and shared lived experience. Individual lived
experience refers to the lived experience of an individual which is considered as unique from one individual to anoth
er. The teachers‟ individual lived experience of textbooks selection means the lived experience of each teacher toward
textbooks selection which is seen individually, without being compared with the lived experience of other teacher. Meanwhile, shared lived experience is the lived
experience among people which are considered similar among others. Teachers‟ shared lived experience of textbooks selection means the lived experience of the
teachers which are relatively similar from one teacher to other teacher. The shared lived experience can be identified by comparing the individual lived experience of
one participant to another. Further, according to Bradley 2002, the word „lived experience‟ means
the mixed senses of the last events and the events which are happening now. Teachers‟ lived experience of selecting textbooks then can be defined as the
senses of selecting textbooks in the past and what the teacher is trying to make meaning of selecting textbooks now. Further, Murphy 1960: 13 in Bradley
2002 mentions that lived experience can be stated as a process that mixes memory including understanding, desire, intention or expectation, anticipation,
relations with others, cultural patterns, feelings, beliefs or sights, behaviors, smells, sounds, etc.
Obtaining these aspects of lived experience, the researcher considers to focus on five aspects of lived experience to be used in the study. They are
understanding, belief, action, feeling, and intention. The researcher thinks that the teachers, of course, had gained knowledge on the criteria of selecting materials,
especially textbooks, in their undergraduate study. Here, the teachers obtained information about selecting textbooks. It means that the teachers already had
understanding on textbooks selection criteria. The information on textbooks selection criteria might change the teachers‟ understanding into the teachers‟
belief. After that, the teachers implemented the textbooks selection based on the teachers‟ understanding and belief. This means the teachers did an action. During
selecting textbooks, the teachers might feel something and want to do something related to textbooks selection, which means that the teachers had intention. The
five aspects of lived experience will be discussed continuously.
a. Understanding
According to Cronbach 1963: 350 to understand means to have the knowledge of or to be well informed about a particular object. In other words, to
understand an idea can be described as knowing its significance, its implicit correlation with other
important idea and also its meaning. Teachers‟ understanding about textbook selection then can be defined as the teachers‟
knowledge about textbook selection, which includes all information the teachers have obtained about textbook selection. Therefore, th
e teachers‟ understanding
