Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
Teacher empowerment can be defined as ‘investing teachers with the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and to exercise professional judgment about what and how to teach,
Bolin, F.S. (1989). “Empowering Leadership”.
Empowerment has become a widely used word. Yet, it is one of the most misleading term and one of the least understood in terms of how it is to be measured or how it is to be observed. Thus understanding the empowerment is a complex issue with varying interpretation in different contexts.
The popular use of the word also means that it has been over extended and applied in circumstances that clearly do not involve much power acquisition beyond some symbolic activity or event.
Empowerment is a serious word- one which brings up the question of personal agency rather than reliance on intermediaries, one that links action to needs and one that does not merely concern personal identity but brings out a broader analysis of human rights and social justice. Thus, empowerment is enablement by changing the person, changing structures, replacing or recreating conventional institutions or rearranging the environment.
Education is considered one of the most important means to empower teachers with the knowledge, skills in self-confidence necessary to participate fully in development processes. Empowerment has become part of today’s rhetoric of educational discourse and exchange, as it aids in the understanding and visualization of the human ability within organizations to improve and increase opportunities for autonomy, responsibility, choice and authority .It is considered to be a basic element of school reform
Teaching has historically been a profession which granted practitioners some degree of autonomy in their class rooms, but large institutional decisions affecting their work were still controlled by administrators and policy-makers. Everything from hiring, budgeting, scheduling, text-book and technology selection to professional development and curriculum is often in the hands of others.
The importance of teacher empowerment in key education areas can not be underestimated. A belief by teachers that their knowledge of teaching and learning (and the very students they teach) matters and is considered a valuable factors in decision making. The connection can help improve the retention of those teachers in their class rooms and ultimately the success of the students they teacher.
Boomer called for the empowerment of students and investigated ways in which power and responsibility could be shared. He believes that teachers can empower students by allowing them to “exercise their own powers and responsibilities” .Ashcroft described empowerment as personal power, which can exist in both personal and social spheres. He believes that empowerment should be a philosophy of education. For schools to be successful at empowering students for their futures they need to examine “fundamental beliefs held about the purposes of education, the nature of knowledge, of learning, of development, and of teacher-learner relationships”
Empowerment transpires over time and usually it is not instantaneous, it means building aspirations, hopes and expectations. In nutshell it is the ability to direct and control one’s own life. Empowering is not something that can be turned on and off but needs to be consistent and persuasive.
Kreisberg examined the nature of power and its relationship to empowerment, specifically focusing on the difference between power-with and power-over. He defined empowerment as people or groups gaining control over their own lives and the decisions that affected them. He accepted the importance of the community, where the empowerment of an individual was connected . Thus, the empowerment of an individual teacher is tied to the empowerment of allteaching community in school.. He suggested that empowerment is enabled by improving lives of a community and community members through dialogue and working collaboratively. Individuals can be empowered to take control over their lives and valued resources, that is gain power-to, through the development of social skills, particularly interpersonal and group skills.
Similarly Brunson and Vogt also closely related the empowerment of an individual to that of the group structure or community to which they belong. They described empowerment as a growth process of an individual supported and encouraged by the group structure within which he or she is working to promote learning. Empowerment can be initiated by oneself or by others intervening. Additionally, it is a process that occurs at varying levels and rates of progression. Brunson and Vogt’s definition focuses on how to achieve empowerment rather than what empowerment is. It states that individuals can initiate their own empowerment, however, people are often restricted by external constraints.
Yowell and Smylie , in an examination of how self-regulation develops, suggested that Essentially, self-regulation is concerned with intra psychological processes and therefore highly self-regulated students are probably likely to be empowered intrapersonal, however, they may not be empowered interpersonally.
These conceptions of empowerment develop the notion that the empowerment of individuals is connected to their community. Accordingly, not only is an individual’s power-to important, but also sharing power within the community is important. Empowerment relates to the development of self-regulation. They defined student empowerment as the translation of a goal into a plan and method of action.
The definitions previously discussed, offer varying perspectives. With these in mind, we provide an operational definition of empowerment as a philosophy that creates an atmosphere in which individual teachers are supported by the classroom community to take responsibility for their lives in trying to meet their needs within learning settings. Empowerment has both interpersonal and intrapersonal dimensions. Interpersonal empowerment occurs when individuals or groups work with each other to meet their needs , that is they have a sense of power-with. Intrapersonal empowerment is when someone has belief in his or her ability or capability to be empowered or a sense of power-to. Empowerment is enabled by working with people not for people, that is, sharing power within a class community
Notion of Teacher Empowerment-
Actually teacher empowerment is strongly correlated with task motivation. Therefore one can claim that in order to engage teachers in pedagogical reform one must give them some control over their own work and influence in the reform process. It also means that fake empowerment strategies will lead to bad out
There are three conceptions of power that are useful for examining empowerment: power-over, power-with and power-to. Power-over can be considered a negative force of power in the form of domination as the effect on the individual(s) over which the power is wielded is likely to be a position of powerlessness. An alternative to power-over is power-with, which can be considered as a positive force of power because it is about equal power relationships rather than domination. Power-to, a third conception of power, exists when a person perceives that they have the ability or capability to act and thus can be considered a positive force of power. Both power-over and power-with operate in the interpersonal sphere whereas power-to is an intrapersonal power. These conceptions of power offer a means of examining the power relations in a classroom.
In the classroom, teachers by the very nature of their position have power-over students and are left to decide how they use or exert their power. Teachers who choose to enable student empowerment can share authority or power with students to establish positive forces of power,
Teacher empowerment too denoted a process of acquiring, providing, bestowing the resources and the means or enabling the access to and control over such means and resources. This implies that the individual has the potential to acquire power upon her own initiative or that another party could make it possible for him to have power.
Empowerment enables the teacher to gain insight and have an awareness of what is undesirable and unfavorable about her current situation, the possibilities of attaining it. This characterization of empowerment implies that the process could involve a change of perception about the self, the environment and the relationship of self and the environment. It is a process that involves the creation of images, the generation of a ‘push’ to act or what educational psychologists call motivation. Change of perceptions implies a change of attitude and change in one’s outlook in life.
Components of Teacher Empowerment
The most frequently identified components of empowerment was decision making; others mentioned frequently were collegiality/collaboration, professional knowledge, self-efficacy, autonomy, and status of classroom teachers. Less frequently mentioned were authority, curriculum planning/design, impact/causal importance, leadership, mentoring, responsibility, and self esteem. Study findings suggest that to participate in school restructuring, teachers must pursue knowledge beyond that of subject content and pedagogy. Their professional knowledge must include a thorough grounding in both the philosophy and processes of the change model adopted by their school Decision making, among other issues, plays a crucial role in teacher empowerment, strengthening and increasing teacher effectiveness
Empowerment is strongly correlated with task motivation. Therefore in order to engage teachers in pedagogical reform one must give some control over their work related with different instructional aspects.
Baruch, Thomas and Velthouse refer four components in empowerment process-
1- Choice- providing teachers with genuine job enrichment and opportunities to have not only their voice heard, but giving them real power for control and influence over instructional process.
2- Competence- enabling the teachers to be confident in their capacity to make decisions and stand for them.
3- Meaningfulness- It is valuing the work done by the empowered teacher.
4- Impact- Letting the teacher has actual influence over what is going on in school, ensuring their decisions make a difference.
According to Dee (2003) empowerment can be defined with Spreitzer’s four dimensions-
1- Meaning- The value of a work goal or purpose judged in relation to the teacher’s own ideals or standard
2- Competence- The teacher’s belief in his/her capacity to perform instructional activities with skills
3- Self-determination- The teacher’s sense of having a choice in initiating and regulating actions
4- Impact- Degree to which an individual can influence outcome at work
On the basis of above referred components the following instructional/literary practices can be empowered.
1- Developing curriculum and Materials- We have all been saying that it is important for our curriculum and materials to be learners centered and that means we should use generative themes for our curriculum as well as our text-books. It also includes students generates materials in developing curriculum and materials. Teacher is faced with the issue of flexibility.
2- Language- It is not very important what language to use by the teacher, whether the dominant language or the ethnic languages, but the important thing is the sentiment of the language.
3- Teaching Methods- There is great variation and uneven quality in this area because of the decision of the groups involved to be flexible and participatory and more responsible to the needs of the student.
4- On Evaluation- Learning from experience should be the main goal of evaluation towards this end. The focus should be on documentation, analysis of the key principles and the methodologies which balanced qualitative and quantitative indicators. There must be a balance between external and internal evaluation.
As a teacher educator and a teacher we personally feel that if the following recommendations are accepted and implemented, there is fairly good chance for providing empowering opportunities.
1- Creating opportunities both formal and informal for teachers to influence, design, create and implement school and academic qualities for the state and procedures.
2- Encouraging the inclusions of teachers in community, school and state level discussions related to the well-fare and ability of all students to academically achieve at the highest level.
3- Providing teachers access to resources (financial, time, opportunities etc.) to identify and solve problem related to their classroom in order to ensure they can help all students learn.
PRESENT SCENERIO IN TEACHER EMPOWERMENT AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF TEACHER EMPOWERMENT AND PRINCIPAL POWER BASES
Empowerment, also referred to as shared decision-making, is essential to school reform and to the changing demands in a global world. The principal and the college management are the building leaders who structures the climate to empower both teachers and students at the site. Empowerment translates in to teacher leadership and exemplifies a paradigm shift with the decisions made by those working most closely with students rather than those at the top of the pyramid.
Traditionally principal leadership has been looked upon as being authoritarian. It has evolved into a type of leadership described as being coercive, manipulative, and controlling. These negative tactics have proven counter-productive.
The empowerment research agrees the conditions under which teachers work are often set up in such a way as to deny teachers a sense of efficacy, success, and self-worth. There is often too much isolation and surviving on ones’ own.
Unfortunately, many teachers go through a period of teaching under the supervision of principals who are described as authoritarian. The teacher becomes bored, resentful, and unhappy. Many wake up in the morning saying “I really don’t want to go.” Many contemplate leaving the teaching profession altogether.
On the other hand, many teachers find themselves working “with” principals instead of “for” principal teachers into the profession, and to reverse a general trend toward treating them as employees who do specific tasks planned in detail by other people. By introducing these new paradigms, the teaching profession will become a truly rewarding experience.
In the book, Zapp in Education (1992),” A principal experienced first-hand leadership qualities through a time machine. The principal witnesses his own typical leadership scenario every day in the school. The principal was seen walking away from a teacher who was trying to communicate. The principal was seen telling the college management how to do the job and does not listen to ideas or feelings. The principal rushed over to someone who is having a problem and immediately takes over to solve the problem. Teachers expressed concern among themselves for they had no idea how well they were performing as educators. Negatives comments comprised the conversations among the staff regarding both the principal and the students. A letter of reprimand caused a teacher to dread going into the school. Much “top-down” management was being practiced. Within the school, the climate appeared to be dim and gloomy because none of the teachers had vitality and enthusiasm. Finally, in the scenario, the principal came to terms with a list of what demoralizes people: lack of responsibility, no authority, and no time to solve problems; meaningless work, no challenges, assignments that are always the same; no way of measuring your own performance; lack of trust and poor communication; rigid, bureaucratic policies, and confusion; not enough knowledge, skills, or resources to do the job well; lack of support, coaching, and feedback; and people treated exactly the same, like interchangeable parts
Unfortunately, principals have no way to watch their own actions such as that illustrated in Zapp inEducation (1992); otherwise, the research conducted by Michigan State University (Blase, 1990) would tell a different story. Ninety-two percent of the teachers surveyed in the study indicated that their morale was substantially affected by the tactics employed by their principal. Such terms as “apathetic,” “alienated,” and “less satisfied” (Blase, 1990, p. 731) were used. In addition, teacher involvement in school-wide activities was reduced substantially. Teachers’ low self-esteem was attributed to the fact that the principal made them feel as if their thoughts and opinions were not valid or important. Feelings of the teachers included anger, depression, and anxiety. The study concluded that all of these morale and self-esteem factors impeded teacher input and leadership.
According to the study conducted by Blase (1990), who examined politics in the educational setting, administrators were not revered as respected, caring, popular people by the people they lead and manage.
An overview of the data indicated that a great majority of the principals used control tactics. These school principals were seen as manipulators and rewards were associated with resource distribution, administrative assignments, appointments, and advancement opportunities.
Further in-depth investigation of politics within schools revealed that control tactics were seen as deceptive and self-serving (Blase, 1990). Not uncommonly, control tactics were experienced as coercive; they were defined as forceful, stressful, and punishing. Control tactics were perceived as reactive and unilateral. The direction of influence was from principals to teachers, as well as the end goals were seen as predetermined and nonnegotiable. According to the data, the control tactics and its related strategies were employed by principals almost entirely with teachers. The principals were found to use control tactics frequently associated with the manipulation of resources, work factors within the classrooms (class loads, class size, homeroom responsibilities), work factors outside the classroom (strict rule enforcement, unwillingness to bend rules), opportunities for input in decisions (extra curricula, curricula), support, and opportunities for advancement. The manipulation of merit salaries, evaluations, and work contracts was discussed less frequently. Teachers also claimed that some principals used the threat of sanctions to obtain compliance.
Likewise, principals were seen as manipulative–involving favored teachers. Those teachers who went along with the politics reaped the benefits.
Some principals used harassment as a control tactic (Blase, 1990). Usually such a ploy was used to force the teacher to leave. Principals created pseudo opportunities for teacher participation, leadership, and decision making. Frequently principals employed the subordinate status, emphasizing the authority differences: “I’m the boss, you are here to do a certain job”
Another control tactic employed by principals was categorized as the protective strategy which involved three classifications: acquiescence, ingratiation, and inconsistency. Principals were perceived as using this tactic to reduce the vulnerability they could otherwise experience from criticism, and demands from both external and internal publics. Acquiescence involved submissive behavior which tended to direct decision making to please the community even when it went against sound educational standards. People with money used their influence to get something for their child. Ingratiation included the promotion of activities and programs to satisfy the community even when it is total nonsense. Inconsistency referred to the contradictory changes in day-to-day decisions and policies in response to conflicting external pressures.
The vision of empowerment exemplifies a paradigm shift with the decisions made by those working most closely with students rather than those at the top of the pyramid. The pyramid must be reversed with the decision making occurring at the bottom., as the definition of empowerment changes now empowerment occurs when power goes to employees who then experience a sense of ownership and control over their jobs. Byham and Cox stated empowering employees involves helping them take ownership of their jobs so that they take personal interest in improving the performance of the organization. . In essence, a more empowered work force is a more productive work force.
Although the definitions of empowerment have emerged from the corporate world, the concept of teacher empowerment parallels employee empowerment in school. Bolin defined empowerment as investing teachers with the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and to exercise professional judgment about what and how to teach. Lucas, Brown, and Markus defined teacher empowerment as a function of the readiness of building-level administrators to share their autonomy with those whose commitment is necessary to make the educational program function at the highest degree of efficiency. shared this outlook by defining teacher empowerment as the development of an environment in which the teachers act as professionals and are treated as professionals.
He further explained that empowerment means that school authorities provide teachers with the authority to make decisions that have, in traditional systems, been made for them, a time and a place to work and plan together during the school day, and a voice in efforts to deepen their knowledge and improve their teaching.
The principal must begin with “self” to become effective. The more aware one is of personal paradigms, the more likely one can take responsibility for their own paradigms. A paradigm is defined as the way one perceives, understands, and interprets everything going on, one needs to examine one’s paradigms against reality, listen, and be open to other people’s perceptions. A larger, more objective picture results. Many times a way of thinking change. Instantaneous shifts are not common occurrences. Covey stated that one’s character is a composite of his habits and through tremendous commitment, these habits can be changed to bring about success. Covey defined a habit as “the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire” . Knowledge is what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. Desire is the motivation, the want to do. In order to develop a habit, all three have to be incorporated.
Empowerment does not mean that principals relinquish power or that teachers must continually challenge authority. Empowerment is defined as teacher liberation, meaning the teacher is free from the “unwarranted control of unjustified beliefs” .The principal must have the innate ability to have vision. A vision refers to a future state that does not presently exist. A principal operates on a vision which is based on values, commitment, and aspirations.
Successful principal do a lot of asking and listening. Two-way communication is established to gain access to these ideas. A great deal of time is spent interacting with people. Three sources from which to seek guidance include the past, present, and alternative image of future possibilities. Reflection of past experiences from one’s self as well as others assist in building a mental picture of what did and did not work. Present practices give similar insight. To acquire vision for the future and allow spontaneous leadership requires much research for ideas. A vision cannot be implemented by edict or by coercion. It is more an act of persuasion, of creating an enthusiastic and dedicated commitment to a vision because it is right for the times right for the organization, and right for the people who are working in it.
Thus, the principal develops credibility. In schools where teachers are empowered to be leaders, the focus of control for the substance of organizational change shifts from the principal to teachers. It is an evolutionary process that is totally dependent upon principals trusting teachers and teachers trusting their principals. The principal who has great trust in the abilities of staff members must believe that to work is as natural as play or rest. Commitment is related to the rewards associated with achievement. Teachers must be convinced that teaching is a profession. Many say it is a profession but few believe it. Everything must be done to project that image. Dress, mannerisms, behavior, and participation in professional activities can enhance their leadership qualities and capabilities. Teachers should put their diplomas, certificates, and awards on their walls to demonstrate their competence and leadership abilities. Teachers should be proud of their academic and personal accomplishments. Teachers need to collaborate and share their expertise. Principals should foster teachers sharing and learning from each other. Professional growth and development must be encouraged and accommodated. Achievements such as higher degrees, additional certifications, special seminars and workshops, presenting, doing research, writing a journal, receiving grants, partnerships, and/or honors should be encouraged and recognized.
As a principal, trust should not be something that has to be earned. It should automatically be granted upon arrival at school. However, it can be lost and then it must be earned back. Communication of this is crucial. Where trust prevails, teachers feel free to be creative and risk takers. Both successes and failures need to be supported. Failures are often the best teachers. Such initiatives should not go unnoticed. Notes in mailboxes as well as verbal praise both privately and publicly should take place often to encourage teachers.
Principals need to be truly interested in what takes place within the classrooms in their schools. In addition, the principal must be willing to attend workshops and conferences with the teachers. The principals’ conferences should not be limited to administration nor should teachers be limited to only teacher organizations.
The principal must use the staff to help make decisions. Every decision cannot be submitted for input and vote; however, financial, curricular, and staffing decisions can be made. Teachers collectively can, along with their expertise, be used as often as possible. .
Outstanding principals go beyond merely involving teachers in decision-making. Principals implement three strategies:
(a) Provide a supportive environment that encourages teachers to examine and reflect upon their teaching and on school practice;
(b) Use specific behaviors to facilitate reflective practice; and
(c) Make it possible for teachers to implement ideas and programs that result from reflective practice. Within the area of providing a supportive environment, teachers are allowed to teach in the manner they feel is most appropriate; however, they do have to justify their methodologies. Other perspectives through creative use of staff development provides opportunities to share. Professional articles are shared by the administrator. Another aspect of a supportive environment creates teaming structures for collective responsibility.
Facilitating reflective practices enables teachers to study their teaching in a proactive manner. As stated earlier, questions asked by the principal place the responsibility for developing solutions and resolving conflicts upon those involved. Additionally, the principal critiques by wandering around and encouraging the teachers to do likewise. The purpose of wandering around is to give teacher leaders the opportunity to clarify their personal visions, that strengthen the organizational vision, and also provide them opportunities to remove themselves from the traditional classroom setting and hone their observation skills of just how a total school building operates. Teachers must be afforded the opportunity to break out from the four walls of their classrooms to collaborate, facilitate, and feel they have the freedom and flexibility to pursue professional growth.
In order for teachers to have the opportunity to implement ideas and programs, resources in the form of money, materials, time, and opportunity must be available. When the request cannot be met by the principal, other options should be discussed instead of a flat “no.” Other possibilities include grants, local businesses, and state incentives
Both administrator and teachers alike are faced with more decision-making responsibilities than ever before. Without empowerment and teacher leadership, neither side wins. As pointed out by Covey the win/win situation is the ultimate goal.
References-
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Dr Suraksha Bansal and Mrs Rakhi Maheshwari for being the Scribes of this article