The Research Of Teachers Empowerment In America

As well known,the key of ensuring and improving the quality of education lies in teachers' being increasingly capable and teachers' on-going professional development. Based on such an understanding, in the 1980s' America, the notion of empowerment was borrowed from the field of management and applied into the field of teacher education, especially in promoting the professional development of teachers, aiming to bring teachers out of the sense of disempowerment in the process of their professional development. Nowadays, the belief of democratic politics and the popular view of valuing individualism are culturally rooted in America,so the concept of empowering teachers, which leads to teachers' empowerment, has achieved the consensus in the field of education but also has formed a unique research system in teacher education.With a comprehensive use of the following research methods such as literature review, case study and factor analysis, this dissertation has specifically and systematically explored the topic, closely investigating the historical development of teachers'empowerment, its effect and what brings about the result and so on. Altogether this thesis consists of five parts.Part One introduces the reason and significance of the research, and summarizes the literature review of "Teachers Empowerment" at home and abroad especially.The second part discusses and summarizes the theoretical system of American teachers' empowerment, including the research background, the origin of the discussion, the implementation of the idea and its development and so on.The third part, taking the distributed leadership implemented in the Autumn Lake Middle School as an example, discusses the practice and effect of American teachers'empowerment as well as its content and strategies. The rights and powers that teachers receive mainly include responsibility, right of policy-making, teaching right by free organization and independent professional development rights, whereby there are much improvement of teachers'self-efficacy, their organizational management ability and their professional development ability. The Autumn Lake Middle School, through the reform of organizational structures, the construction of organizational cultures and the collaboration of organization personnel, has achieved remarkable progress in teaching and benefiting the society. Part Four analyses the reason that it is successful of the practice in teachers' empowerment. Advanced concepts, democratic leaders, the mutual cooperation colleague are all essential factors.The fifth part relates this work with the factual condition of China and the implications of teachers empowerment for the in-service teachers' professional development are discussed.The research and practice of teachers' empowerment in America have been achieved with a extensive and in-depth effect. It also made a big difference in the improvement of teaching, teachers' satisfaction from their achievement, the promotion of teachers' profession and other fields of society. To a certain extent, there is also influence of the education leadership and teaching mode on China. The author hopes that the dissertation can make its contribution in bringing the attention to the necessity of empowing teachers and more research on this aspect is badly needed.