1. Empowering Teachers: Implications for Professional Development

2. What is empowerment?

3. What is empowerment and why is it important?
Empowerment is most often viewed as a process through which people become powerful enough to engage in, share control of, and influence events and institutions affecting their lives.
Empowerment may also be defined as, “the opportunity and confidence to act upon one’s ideas and to influence the way one performs in one’s profession.”

4. Short (1992) presented six empirically derived dimensions underlying the construct of teacher empowerment – autonomy, self-efficacy, decision-making, status, impact, and professional growth.
If teacher empowerment is vital to effective schools, then it is important to know how it develops and how it can be nurtured.

5. Phases of Teacher Empowerment
Phase 1: Initiating Empowerment
Phase 2: Growth of Empowerment
Phase 3: Sustaining Empowerment

6. Phase 1: Initiating Empowerment
Lack of Preparation for entering the classroom & concurrent lack of awareness of PD opportunities
Early experiences with Decision-making
Increasing confidence that accompanied student success
Critical Element: Awareness of PD opportunities: “Part of what changes during a career is your awareness of these opportunities. I’m certain there were opportunities my first year. I just knew nothing about them.”

7. Phase 2: Growth of Empowerment
Growing Awareness of PD
Increasing Self-Efficacy through student success
Challenging contexts - both teaching & personal
Maturing sense of Autonomy through involvement in decision-making
Critical Element: Professional Growth Opportunities: In this career phase, the teachers began to seek professional growth opportunities designed to improve their instruction.

8. Phase 3: Sustaining Empowerment
Appreciating lifelong learning
Redefining Self-Efficacy
Valuing relationships with peers
Impacting education through group involvement
Critical Element: Professional Growth and Lifelong Learning: “I’m still learning. That’s one thing I will say – If you quit learning, it’s not any fun anymore.”

9. Experiences and Patterns
1. Professional growth provided the “mind” – an intellectual remedy for lack of preparation for teaching and challenging teaching contexts – and eventually supported a mature sense of self-efficacy, which was reflected in teachers’ increased confidence in their teaching, involvement in decision-making, and their status as professionals.
2. The professional development needs of the teachers varied as their careers progressed and the context of their assignment changed.

10. Creating the Conditions for Initiating, Increasing, & Sustaining Teacher Empowerment
Phase 1: New teachers should be directed toward targeted professional development opportunities that address individual needs and/or weaknesses.
Phase 2: PD should assist teachers in becoming more effective in designing and delivering instruction that meets the needs of their particular student population.

11. Creating the Conditions for Initiating, Increasing, & Sustaining Teacher Empowerment
Phase 3: These teachers recognize the importance of lifelong learning and note a strong need for collaboration with other professionals who are functioning at their level of competence.

12. Considerations Used in Training
Planning
Good Techniques for Training
Attitude as facilitator

13. Planning Think of the best trainers you had Work as a team
Arrange for an acceptable venue
Make sure you have all the materials needed
Ensure you understand all tools
Prepare well

14. Good Techniques for Training:
Relax and energize participants.
Familiarize participants with each other .
Ensure all participants understand the aims .
Introduce the key aims of the training.
Ensure all the activities planned are acceptable.
Agree upon a timetable.
List expectations.
Adapt the programme to address the needs.

15. Good Techniques for Training:
Emphasize ‘learning by doing’.
Start with a recapitulation of the previous day.
Use a variety of methods.
Role-play a bad vs. a good facilitator.
Incorporate varied activities.
Stick to time-frames.
Have a strong closing session.
Build in an evaluation of the training.

16. Attitude as facilitator
Stay relaxed and calm.
Be open and honest.
Be a good listener; observe and record.
Do not panic when the group is silent
Do not interrupt people.
Do not make judgments.
Do not let arguments dominate

17. Attitude as facilitator
Be aware of language barriers.
Use visual aids and body language.
Use appropriate eye contact.
Make it interactive.
Use humor .
Choose examples that capture interest.
Address questions raised by participants.

18. The ‘Perfect' Training Course:
Participants
Environment
Resources
Programme

19. A Trainer's Various Hats
Motivator
Mediator
Mentor
Controller
Chairperson
Presenter
Counsellor

20. Types Of Participants The Silent The Griper The Know-all The Clash
The Latecomer
The Difficult-to-understand

21. Types of training methods:
Lectures/ presentations
Written exercises
Group discussions
Case studies
Role plays
Games and simulations
Questionnaires
Project work with presentation
Videotaped simulations with playback
Brainstorming

22. Dos of Training Delivery:
Warm up learners’
Review the learning
Encourage learners
Set objectives
learners awareness of the objectives
Restrict input
Take breaks

23. Dos of Training Delivery:
Present info and recap
Use visuals
Ask how learners learn best.
Use realistic case studies
Use anecdotes.
Use participants’ names.
Give useful feedback.

24. Don’ts of Training Delivery:
Overload learners.
Use abstract ideas.
Ask “Do you understand?”
Take things for granted.
Speak too fast .
Ask learners to do things you would not.

25. General training room checklist:
Overhead projector
Transparencies
Flip chart
Marker pens
Camera
TV monitor
Tapes
Extension cables.

26. General training room checklist:
Adaptors
CD / tape player
Paper and pencils
Enough chairs & space
Lighting, ventilation, AC
Manuals
Handouts
Participants list