Teacher Empowerment and Cultural Context

Dr. Shanthi Thomas completed her PhD in Education at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam. She has ten years of experience as a teacher leader, as well as in teaching modules in the Masters in Education and Masters in Teaching courses at Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

• PrefaceChapter 1. Teacher empowermentChapter 2. The cultural contextChapter 3. The role of school leaders in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowermentChapter 4. The role of colleagues in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowermentChapter 5. The role of students and parents in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowermentChapter 6. Self-initiated empowering and disempowering behaviours of teachersChapter 7. Empowering/disempowering values, beliefs and dispositions of the individual teacherChapter 8. Teacher empowerment process in the study context vis-à-vis western conceptualizationChapter 9. A proposed model of self-empowerment and disempowermentChapter 10. Implications and recommendationsConclusionReferences

"Why can't the Principal walk around and supervise our teaching?" This is a question which a group of teachers in a South East Asian country asked. Does this sound odd? Read this critical analysis of power dynamics in a school where teachers want their principal and supervisors to be strict and yet nurturing . They opt for a "nurturing power- over paradigm", instead of a "democratic power- with" paradigm. Here is a book that re-defines power and empowerment.Dr. Thomas Abraham, Ruth Cohn Institute for Theme – Centred Interaction (TCI) IndiaThis book attests to the pivotal role of teachers in the knowledge society and provides guidelines as to how to bring about their best in the South East Asian Cultural scenario.Dr Somasekharan B Pillai, Fr. Porukara CMI College of Advanced Studies, Champakulam, India