An assessment of school councils, collegial groups, and professional Development as Teacher Empowerment Strategies

Abstract

In the mid-1980s teacher empowerment emerged as the centerpiece of school reform for teachers in the USA. A policy issue now is: How can we empower teachers to become influential teacher leaders and more skilled teachers? In this article the researchers examine three strategies for their effect on empowering teachers within the new policy context of school autonomy. Teacher service on Kentucky's school councils seemed to have little effect on empowering teachers since the researchers found in two studies that teachers were not even attracted to the job in the first place. Facilitators of teacher collegial groups were found to have potential in empowering group members–provided the facilitators conceptualise their role as a learner and supporter of the classroom experimentation process. (;The principal selection of facilitator was a key factor in this empowerment strategy.) Professional development conceptualised as growth opportunities for teachers seemed effective when several factors converge at the school site: an atmosphere of support and trust; teachers assuming leadership roles through administrator encouragement; voluntary participation combined with professional norms fostering teacher involvement; diverse, active learning and self-directed learning experiences connected to teacher work context and expertise; integration of efforts to improve classroom teaching and learning with school-level improvement and PD programmes; professional development ‘as a way of life.’ In the article's last section, implications including suggestions for policymakers are made for building school instructional capacity. © 2001 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.