Empowerment as a source of motivation through teacher-principal interactions

This study examines field-based teacher-principal interactions that teachers perceive as empowering. The study also explores those factors which influence the decisions of principals to selectively empower some teachers, and how empowerment may impact on teachers' motivation. Ethnographic methods and techniques including interview, observation, key informants and triangulation were employed in a multiple-case study of four inner-urban Melbourne primary schools. The study of 53 teachers and their principals involved fieldwork being conducted over a total period of one month. Results from a form of constant comparative data analysis underscore the need for trust to exist between the employer, principals and teachers. Being trusted by, and/or having trust in, a principal contributes to teachers' feelings of empowerment. Failure‚ÄövÑvÆby an employing authority or principal‚ÄövÑvÆto evidence trust in the judgements and skills of teachers to effectively carry out their responsibilities is disempowering for these employees. At a collective and individual level, trust in teachers by an employer or principal needs to be augmented with recognition, respect, support and reliability. A number of influences contribute to principals' decisions to empower some colleagues, prominent among which is a belief that a teacher is capable of successfully responding to, or pursuing an initiative, and that the potential benefits from such an undertaking cohere with the school's philosophy. Teachers in this study suggest that the empowering of colleagues usually results in heightened motivation and a preparedness to commit further efforts in schools.