Empowering teachers.

THE idea of learning is as old as time itself, yet we struggle each day to empower teachers to develop the competencies and skills required to transform teaching and learning. Many teachers lament lack of opportunities for continuous growth, lack of empowerment, reward and recognition. While their demands would be rational in an ideal world, they are not necessarily legitimate when there is a huge gap between the demonstration of skills and the call for empowerment, which involves decision-making, commitment to strategic aims and a vision.

How can empowerment occur in a vacuum where the competencies don't match up to the demands of the educational institution? The answer may lie in addressing the huge gap between skills training and curriculum demands.

The story of empowerment is multilayered - there can be no cake without the ingredients. We cannot see growth and progress in an environment wrought with deficiencies or functioning on the wrong ingredients. Once potential is unlocked and the necessary competencies are addressed, empowerment is the result. The story starts with enablement through building and optimising capabilities, setting up mechanisms for ongoing improvement and tracking measurable indicators to monitor impact. Ad hoc policies and bursts of intermittent effort to train teachers through INSET (in-service training) days cannot fulfil the requirements.

Unfortunately, delivering content without a vision or strategy, especially with funding limitations and a web of restrictions on teachers, cannot carry hope of empowerment which, in turn, limits the teachers' ability to enable students - the ultimate stakeholders. A structured strategy is not just necessary but crucial to students' future. However, the journey may be a difficult one as we can't really build a tower without laying the foundations. In our schooling system, that implies recognising those with competence and key talent, and customising teacher training modules to offer piecemeal services to teachers according to their needs.

How motivated are teachers to take charge?

There are mainly three quick and effective ways of empowering the faculty - looking closely at their commitment through the metrics of 'institution-building' measures. What impact do they have on teaching and learning, on the reputation of the institute and how well do they address students' needs above and beyond their job description? While reward and recognition is a significant driver of...