TEACHERS EMPOWERMENT

By: Maryrose Angieley M. Peaflor,

Ph.D.
Juan F. Trivio MHS - DepEd,
Camarines Sur
The concept of empowerment was the
product of modern day organizational
democratization, a clamor for broad-based
decision making which involves not just a lone
leader, nor a few wise men, but the
involvement of followers who have stakes in
the attainment of organizational goals. It is a
reaction to the traditional, hierarchical
organization, the Theory X organization
which consisted of a rigid hierarchy of
managers who needed to constantly supervise
workers to get any kind of satisfactory results
from them (Potterfield, 1999). But not so,
according to Mc Gregor, who opposed Theory
X organization where workers were branded
self-interested and lazy, and proposed Theory
Y organization based on democratic values
where workers have more active, decisive role
in its development (Robbins & Judge, 2007)
together with Maslows idea of a selfactualized person and McGregors preference
for democratic organization.
In
modern
organization the trend is toward staf
empowerment, so that even those in the lower
layer can be empowered to perform decisions
that ensure the fast delivery of quality service
to clients and/or stakeholders. The need to
decentralize decision making is an attempt to
difuse decision making throughout the
organization and allows problems to be solved
by the lowest practical managerial level
(Marquiz & Huston, 2003).
Efective leaders can get things done,
share power and responsibility with their
employees (Holpp, 2004). Sharing power is an
indicator of empowerment, which involves
creating conditions for heightened motivation
through the development of a strong sense of
personal self-efficacy.
In
transitioning
from
traditional
hierarchical management structure to a more
open, democratic and participative approach,
a key issue of many organizations face is
empowering their employees. Empowerment
is the ability of employees to use more
judgment and discretion in their works and to
participate more fully in decisions afecting
their working lives (Potterfield, 1999.
One of the best dimensions of
empowerment is that individuals in the
organization, like the classroom teachers that
can make decisions based on their knowledge,
skills and talents. Teachers can empower
themselves by developing their sense of selfefficacy (Nelson and Quick, 2000), giving them
the opportunity to participate in policy making
and that feeling of self-worth depends on
many factors, one of which is the teachers
continuing education which helps them
broaden their knowledge and skills, thus
strengthening self esteem.

But the idea of empowerment has met

stif oppositions from some writers. Robbins
(2002) said that the problem with the current
empowerment movement is that it ignores the
extent to which leadership can be shared and
the conditions facilitating the success of
shared leadership. Some workers also feel
that empowering them is just a ploy to give
them additional work for less money
(Hitchcock & Wilard, 1995). Empowerment is
often viewed with decision by many in the
workplace as another meaningless trend
(Purser & Cabana, 1998). Participatory
management in many organizations as one
example of empowerment appears to lose
steam since many organizations, especially in
government services are strictly governed by
policies and rules which cannot be changed
overnight unless the governing Board
approved their revisions. The Board itself
appears to be a sitting duck, for its legislative
power cannot go beyond its mandates which
requires Congressional fiat. Compensation
issues, for instance are strictly governed by
labor laws, so that local governance cannot
approve a salary scheme not within the
existing standards.
Another cynical view on empowerment
is the misconception which some workers may
entertain: that given certain power of decision
making, they may feel too empowered, or too
self-independent as to derail the concept of
teamwork in the workplace (Hitchcock &
Wilard, 1995).
Studies have suggested that culture can
be an important factor associated with the
efectiveness
of
a
wide
variety
of
organizations (Morris, 2001). Organizational
cultures which emphasis teamwork and
coordination have been associated with
greater implementation of continuous quality
improvement practices (Shortell et al., 1999).
By contrast, organizational cultures that
emphasize formal structures, regulations and
reporting
relationships
appear
to
be
negatively
associated
with
quality
improvement activity (Shortell, 2001).
Communication environment can also
afect workers empowerment. Workers have
to develop at least four empowerment skills
namely, competence skills, process skills, the
development of cooperative and helping
behavior and communication skills. Thus,
workers feel secure and empowered in a work
environment where friendly relation exist,
where workers are given the opportunity to
attend
training,
where
commendable
performance is rewarded, where the safety of
the
workers
is
foremost
among
the
organizations
priorities,
where
communication is free and open.
Teachers participation in decision
making and opportunity for continuing
education are two important dimensions of
empowerment which need to be looked into.
The involvement in decision making which
starts with the identification of a problem and

ends with the evaluation of the choices and

taking a course of action usually tests their
knowledge of the teaching process.
Though
continuing education teachers develop selfconfidence in the performance of their
profession, and develop self-empowerment.
But it is a fact that the continuing education of
many teachers is not being financed by their
schools. How does this situation afect the
teachers concept empowerment?
Review of local studies reveals the
dearth of research which made an assessment
of the efect of school culture on the

empowerment of teachers. A comprehensive

assessment of the dimensions of selected
secondary schools in the Bicol region, could
determine the extent in which they have
contributed to the empowerment of their
teaching staf. The need to empower teachers
has become urgent since modern day school
organization needs empowered teachers.
This is an issue that needs critical
thinking if we want to modernize our
educational system.