Teachers in their own right are also leaders.  As such, they possess empowerment.  Only a few years ago, the word empowerment was noticed being mentioned or tagged to the mere mention of teacher’s responsibilities and capabilities,  It was found out in the evaluation and assessment of responsibilities and job description of teachers that empowerment plays an important role in the performance of teachers duties.

            According to Dr. Jasmin A. Acuna in her article “Issues Related To Teacher Empowerment,” Empowering means: encouraging, motivating, supportive, inspiring, trusts employees’ capabilities, allows employees to work independently, respects freedom of choice, has good mentoring skills, gives allowance for self-discovery and improvement and handles people well.

             Why then is empowerment important especially for teachers? According to authorities in the field of education, allowing teachers to leave enough time to do something creative, trust that they will use this time productively so that they are continually growing and we can expect that through this empowerment these teachers may lead our children to the next century.

            Empowering teachers’ mind through different trainings, seminars, conferences and forums can lead them to create a better school environment by having better relationships with other members of the organization and by disseminating knowledge acquired from these professional gatherings and meetings.  The creative powers of teachers can help them to become more sensitive to others, how they think and feel, could in turn will help them relate, communicate and more importantly they have now the knowledge of resolving problems or conflicts that may arise.  

            Another important aspect of empowerment for teachers is the empowerment of emotions.  Teachers must possess an empowered emotion.  According to Gini Graham Scott, author of the best seller book “ The Empowered Mind,  “ when we lose control of our emotions, it can hurt us or others.  For instance, at work, if you don’t control your anger or frustrations, you can blow a slight happening  into a big insult that may turn into a feud, one that can not only make you feel worse, but can result in your being suspended from your work or even losing a job.”  We must be reminded that when an uncontrolled explosion seems to achieve its immediate purpose, it can still have long-term negative effects on relationships and on personal satisfaction.  By contrast. if you stay in charge of your emotions or turn anger into a diplomatic and creative way of asking for  or  telling what you want you can avoid problems and achieve your goals.”

            Scott further stressed that a teacher’s inner creativity can help him or her respond successfully to change.  It can be a well-spring of a variety of new ideas that they can use to:

• Be more efficient and effective;
• Create new useful and productive products;
• Design better policies and procedures;
• Provide more and better leadership and direction;
• Recharge yourself and what you do to open doors to new opportunities;
• Feel more power and self-confidence so you can do more, and
• Make life more interesting and exciting for yourself and important others in your life.

            So teachers are you ready to be empowered ?

References:

  Gini Graham Scott, The Empowered Mind. Prentice Hall. Career and Personal Development                    Englewood Cliffs Development NJ USA 1995

 Jasmin A. Acuna, Issues Related to Teacher Empowerment.  Fusion Fuse4 Constel Manila,                         Philippines, December, 1998   

By: Romer M.Valencia | Teacher III | Bonifacio Camacho National High School Abucay, Bataan