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Principals' and Teachers' Perceptions of Teacher Empowerment

August 29, 2002

"The primary purpose of this study was to examine if there was a difference in how principals and teachers perceive teacher empowerment. Bolin (1989, p. 82) defined teacher empowerment as 'investing teachers with the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and to exercise professional judgment about what and how to teach.' Accordingly, based on this definition, comparisons of principals' and teachers' perceptions of teacher empowerment - how much actual influence teachers have on four policy areas, what to teach, and how to teach - were made. Two additional important purposes of the study were to build on the existing, but limited, research knowledge in this area and to provide avenues for future inquiry (Krathwohl, 1993).

The data for the study were extracted from the Schools and Staffing Survey 1993-94 (SASS93), a national survey designed by the National Center for Education Statistics and conducted by the U.S Bureau of Census (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1994). The samples used for this study included 9,098 principals and 47,105 teachers in public schools.

Because the sample design of SASS93 involved stratification, disproportionate sampling of certain strata, and clustered probability sampling, the resultant principal and teacher samples were not random samples (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1994). Therefore, relative sample weights which were based on the principals' and teachers' final weights were used not only to approximate the populations but also to adjust them down to the actual sample sizes of the study.

In the surveys of public school principals and teachers, they were asked to rate how much actual influence teachers have in the following six areas: (a) hiring new full-time teachers, (b) evaluating teachers, (c) setting discipline policy, (d) deciding how the budget will be spent, (e) establishing curriculum, and (f) determining the content of in-service programs. All six items were measured on a six-point Likert scale (0 = 'no influence' to 5 = 'a great deal of influence'). These six items operationalized Bolin's (1989) definition of teacher empowerment. Items (a) to (d) were more on 'policy,' item (e) on 'what to teach,' and item (f) on 'how to teach.'

The findings of the study clearly indicate that principals perceive that teachers are much more empowered than teachers themselves feel. There is a clear discrepancy in principals' and teachers' perceptions of the extent of teacher empowerment. The findings also suggest that teachers still have little influence on school-wide issues such as deciding school budget, hiring new teachers, and evaluating teachers.

Specifically, awareness of the findings from this study could assist principals in regard to their responsibilities for and in maximizing teacher empowerment. The benefits of teacher empowerment include increased teacher job performance and productivity, improved teacher morale, increased teacher knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy, and in the end, higher student motivation and achievement.

This study is not without limitation. First, the samples were drawn from public schools only. Second, the survey, a self-report device, was the only data collection method used. Third, there could be factors other than the position of the respondent to the survey that are associated with the perceptions of teacher empowerment. However, the study finds a disparity in principals' and teachers' perception of teacher empowerment and indicates the need for additional research in this area (Keiser & Shen, 2000, pp. 115-121)."

Reference: Keiser, N. M. & Shen, J. (2000). Principals' and teachers' perceptions of teacher empowerment. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3).

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Created: 2008-02-25, Updated: 2009-02-17