1st Edition

Teacher Empowerment and Cultural Context The Case of Brunei Darussalam

By Shanthi Thomas Copyright 2018
    120 Pages
    by Routledge

    130 Pages
    by Routledge

    Teacher empowerment is a psychological and socio-structural motivational process that enhances teacher performance and self-expression. The current conceptualisations of Teacher Empowerment, available in extant literature, have been constructed in an Anglo-Saxon, western cultural context. There have been attempts to transfer the concept to Asian countries, but these attempts were faced with major obstacles since the underlying cultural assumptions are not the same across countries.

    This book treads new ground by redefining Teacher Empowerment in the cultural context of South East Asia. Using the case of Brunei Darussalam which has a unique socio-cultural make-up as a melting pot of Malay, Chinese and other Asian cultures, the book offers a unique insight how the Teacher Empowerment dynamics is played out in this context. Covering more than just empowering leadership in schools, the author explores how colleagues, parents, and students empower teachers, and how teachers empower themselves. This book is a valuable guide for educators and educational leaders and researchers in Southeast Asia and beyond, who are committed to the empowerment of teachers, and the qualitative enhancement of the field of education as a whole.

    Preface
    Chapter 1. Teacher empowerment
    Chapter 2. The cultural context
    Chapter 3. The role of school leaders in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowerment
    Chapter 4. The role of colleagues in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowerment
    Chapter 5. The role of students and parents in facilitating and/or impeding teacher empowerment
    Chapter 6. Self-initiated empowering and disempowering behaviours of teachers
    Chapter 7. Empowering/disempowering values, beliefs and dispositions of the individual teacher
    Chapter 8. Teacher empowerment process in the study context vis-à-vis western conceptualization
    Chapter 9. A proposed model of self-empowerment and disempowerment
    Chapter 10. Implications and recommendations
    Conclusion
    References

    Biography

    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.

    "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) India

    This 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