Empowerment

Teacher Empowerment

Teacher empowerment supports increasing teacher involvement in decisions that affect the school as a whole as well as the classroom, creating organizational arrangements that involve teachers in decision making, and establishing a sense of autonomy for teachers. Teacher empowerment has had a demonstrated effect on the following: enhanced teacher selfesteem, increased teacher knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy, enhanced staff collegiality, improved curriculum and instruction, and higher student achievement.

As a component of empowerment, shared decision making becomes an integral part in understanding the principal's use of power and teacher empowerment. Principals act as facilitators rather than using their position to exert or influence decisions. Teachers, in turn, need to be comfortable participating in the decision-making process and to realize their input is valued. The relationship between principals and teachers also plays a role in empowerment. Teachers' perceptions of principals' trustworthiness, credibility, and competence influence the aspects of empowerment.

Complex change in education sometimes requires top-down or external initiation, but if change is to occur and be sustained, there needs to be shared control and decision making. While the initiative often comes from the principal, shared decision making is critical from that point onward. Principals support and stimulate initiative taking by others; organize crosshierarchical groups involving teachers, administrators, parents, and students; and delegate authority and resources to the groups.

There are three other points of consideration involving empowerment. First, the development of groups responsible for significant tasks results in a peer interaction that enhances both pressure and support for accomplishing tasks. This type of peer interaction proves to be more powerful than the traditional hierarchical process. Second, empowerment involves more time, money, and personnel, necessary resources for the results. Third, empowerment requires developing a different mindset about the roles of diversity, conflict, and resistance. Diversity encourages a broader range of ideas and solutions. Because conflict is necessary in working out new productive skills, conflict [Page 339]management skills are essential. Resistance, which may occur with various individuals, can be minimized by listening and being open to new possibilities.

...