The purpose of this PLC-informed qualitative interview case study was to explore middle school teacher methods for cultivating student autonomy and the rationale behind their instructional choices. Here, student autonomy was defined as learners taking ownership of their academic performance and scholastic responsibilities (Holec, 1981). The unforeseen emergence of COVID-19 impacted the format of this study and provided a rare opportunity for a six-week, nine-member professional learning community (PLC) focusing on the topic of student autonomy. A survey questionnaire, PLC transcripts, and 30-minute semi-structured qualitative exit interviews underwent thematic coding analysis to place teacher responses in the context of predominant voices found in academia today. Themes are examined from a leadership perspective, through the social justice lens of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; Giroux, 2011; McLaren, 2015). This study evolved to capture the teachers' lived experiences during the pandemic in order to gain their perspectives on how autonomy shifted along with the traditional means of instruction during this time of seismic change. Discussed are themes of performativity, teacher authenticity, social and emotional learning (SEL), PLCs as professional development (PD), motivation, constructivism, adaptive expertise, and metacognition, along with several others, nesting teachers' practical experience in the rich context of pedagogical theory, specifically when navigating new roles in remote and hybrid instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]