Professional Development and Empowerment of Primary School Teachers (Published)
The rapid changes in the socio-economic environment and the consequent pressures for educational reforms make it more than necessary to empower teachers who need to redefine their teaching strategies to meet students’ differentiated needs. Related studies suggest that teachers need to feel empowered to be effective and empower students. Therefore, the empowerment of teachers is at the center of the processes for quality improvement and school upgrade. The purpose of this study is to capture the views of primary education teachers on the opportunities for professional empowerment provided in their school environment. A total of 124 primary education teachers in Ilia Prefecture who participated in the quantitative sample survey completed an electronic questionnaire based on the Teacher Empowerment Scale. The presentation and analysis of the findings show that participants in all dimensions of empowerment have moderate to high degree of agreement. Specifically, the highest average dimension is that of decision-making, while the lowest average is that of professional development.
Keywords: Decision Making, Empowerment, Participation, Professional Development, Teachers