9 Creative Ways to Empower Teachers

Are you a principal wondering how to empower teachers in your school? You’re in the right place.

We often talk about the importance of empowering students, but there are many benefits to making teacher empowerment a focus at your school as well.

Studies show that teachers who feel empowered and confident contribute to better student success rates.

In addition, empowering teachers leads to:

• them to become more confident leaders
• encourages them to take more ownership over the school
• fosters school community and school staff morale
• them being more confident and productive as a teacher- hence the improved student achievement rates.

Another benefit to empowering teachers that is not often talked about is that it reduces principal workload as well! When teachers feel confident, they can problem-solve more issues on their own

While the school administrator has the final say on matters, schools function better with a sense of community where all staff feel heard and can contribute.

Whether you work in a public or private school – here are some ways to empower your educator as a school administrator.

9 Ways to Empower Teachers in Your School

1. Facilitate open communication

Part of being an effective principal is facilitating effective communication with your educators.

Teachers, especially those who are younger and inexperienced, may be hesitant to voice their thoughts and concerns. They may avoid sharing their true opinions and thoughts with you.

At the end of the day – teachers want to impress you. They want you to like them, even if they don’t admit it.

Of course, the final say on almost anything is yours as the school administrator – and they realize that.

But, as the front liners in education, teachers may see things from an angle that you hadn’t considered, and have some valuable insight to share – insight that would make your school stronger as a whole.

Try saying something like, “These are my thoughts, but you are the professional in the classroom and I value your input. I would like to hear it.”

Teamwork is important when it comes to a well-functioning school, and open communication is a big factor in that.

Ensure that your teachers know that you value their professional opinion and want them to be heard.

Struggling with communication or conflict with a teacher? Read my post on how to manage difficult teachers

2. Try to ‘see’ your teachers

Nothing does more wonders for an employee than having a boss who they feel really deeply sees and appreciates them.

I was a teacher for almost 10 years, and in that time – I didn’t feel like most of my principals understood where I was coming from.

But there was one retired principal that I worked with who was only filling in for a few weeks while the regular principal was away. I had never felt so understood, valued and empathized with by any boss as much as I had by this principal – and it made me value my workplace and want to work harder for her.

Take the time, not to just listen – but to understand and try to see things from their perspective.

3. Provide opportunities for teacher leadership

School committees made up of teachers who can take charge and lead provide many benefits to the school.

They encourage collaboration and reflection among colleagues and a sense of ownership over the school.

Of course, don’t make it an expectation for your teachers to take on running a committee, as their plate may already be full.

But for those who have the time and want to – allowing them to take leadership roles within the school creates community in the school for everyone and encourages others to get involved in the capacity that they are able.

4. Provide opportunities for them to teach each other

Science shows that people perform best when they have opportunities to learn from each other.

When teachers have opportunities to teach and coach other teachers, their own teaching improves.

The science behind this is explained in the book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by psychologist Adam Grant (which is one of the books I think every educator should read.)

Sometimes, there is funding set aside for teachers to learn from each other; if not, I would recommend being creating a time at staff meetings.

For example:

• Ask a teacher if they’d like to share a technique with the staff as a whole
• Put teachers into small groups at staff meetings, where they each get a chance to share a teaching strategy

5. Collect feedback before changing a system in place

Before making a major change to how something is achieved, I highly recommend first gathering feedback from your teachers to get an idea of the consensus among the staff.

There are ways to do this digitally, and even anonymously, which allows you to see how teachers feel about the proposed new plan without fear of repercussions.

At one of the schools I worked at, a new principal decided to do away with a behaviour management plan that we’d been using at our school for years (that most teachers felt worked.)

The principal announced at a staff meeting that we would no longer be using this behaviour management system, and it was immediately gone – even though there wasn’t a single teacher or staff member who agreed with the change.

While you have the final say, it’s worthwhile to collect thoughts from staff who may be able to shine light on a perspective you hadn’t thought of.

Here are some ways to collect feedback and thoughts among staff:

• Google Forms (always free, everyone knows how to use it – can be anonymous or not)
• Use Poll Everywhere (the free tool allows you to survey up to 25 people)
• If the above tools don’t work, check out other anonymous feedback tools here.

6. Have their back

It’s so important to support teachers when it comes to any issues with students or their parents. This is part of helping them with classroom management.

This goes back to the ‘seeing’ them and empathizing with them part. Teachers will function much better as educators and leaders if they feel like they have your support and understanding.

In communicating with parents, try to use words like “we,” and make it sound like you and the teachers are a united team.

When communicating with teachers, listen pensively to their side, and try to empathize. Let them know that you are there to help.

Here’s the trick though: even if you do agree more with the parent than the teacher, its very important to discuss this privately with the teacher to solve the issue from the school end, rather than give the parent the impression that you’re on their side. When students and parents get the impression that they have a ‘higher up’ to go to when they don’t agree with the teacher – they lose respect for the teacher, which will lead to further issues later on. This increases your workload too.

Try wording similar to this with a parent. “Thanks for bringing this to my attention. (Teacher name) and I will discuss this, and we will let you know when we’ve come to a conclusion.”

7. Show appreciation for their work

Many of their efforts go unnoticed and unappreciated. Find ways to thank them for their contributions to the school, and for all they do for their young learners.

Ideas on how to show appreciation:

• Give positive feedback for efforts that you notice. A casual “thanks for all you did for the assembly, I know it meant a lot to the students and parents” can go a long way
• A holiday card to each teacher signed with a simple “Thank you for all you do for our school. – Your Name”
• An email on a Friday afternoon thanking the staff as a whole (although don’t do it to often, as it can quickly lose its meaning)

Pro Tip: Words of praise and thank you’s are generally stronger when directed at specific staff members, rather than at the staff as a whole – but a once in a while thank you to the whole staff goes a long way too

8. Do regular check-ins

If you are following the above recommendations, then I believe you will have a well-functioning school where all staff members feel heard and contribute proudly and effectively.

An added bonus step to empowering teachers in your school is to check in with your teaching staff periodically (bi-monthly would be my suggestion) to gage:

• how they feel things are going
• if there any additional steps that could be taken in moving forward

This can be done informally in the following ways:

• Asking for a show of hands at staff meetings
• Inviting them to share thoughts on the bigger picture
• Gathering feedback anonymously

This encourages not only communication, but reflection among your staff as they try to assess the bigger picture and problem-solve ways to improve it.

9. Reduce workload (when possible)

When requesting that your teachers do something in addition to their regular duties, be mindful of the time it demands of them, and acknowledge that you don’t want it to cut into their time.

It isn’t always possible to reduce a teacher’s workload, but if you can think of any ways for a job do be done quicker or more efficiently, be sure to share those tips, such as:

• not re-inventing the wheel
• sharing resources
• ways to use AI tools to streamline repetitive tasks in the classroom

An overwhelming workload can throw off work-life balance and contribute to poor job satisfaction and burnout.

Why Teacher Empowerment is Important

Here are the reasons why empowering teachers is vital for the teacher, the school community and the achievement of students

✅ It encourages teachers to become more involved with the school
✅ It promotes more efficient problem-solving by opening up honest communication between staff and school administrators
✅ It allows for better collaboration between all staff members
✅ It reduces feelings of teacher imposter syndrome, which is detrimental to performance
✅ It plays a role in preventing teacher burnout, which is detrimental to students
✅ It indirectly strengthens student achievement
✅ It reduces school administrator workload

How to Empower Teachers FAQ

Here are some commonly asked questions about how to empower teachers

Why do teachers need to be empowered?

Teachers need to be empowered because it allows them to become more confident educators who problem-solve, and take pride and ownership over the school they work at. It leads to school work environments that are more collaborative, and community oriented.

How to empower teachers to be leaders?

There are many ways to empower teachers to be leaders; in general you should ask for and encourage their input, and provide leadership opportunities for them within the school – such as safety, academic, social committees and other causes that they are passionate about.

How can we empower teachers to become effective classroom leaders?

To empower teachers to become more efficient at running a classroom, it is important to show that you trust them as professionals and that you value their opinions and feedback. This encourages them to express their thoughts and communicate with you, the school administrator. It’s also very important to support them when it comes to student or parent conflict, as not doing so reduces respect that students and parents have for them – which leads to further classroom management issues.

Final Thoughts on Teacher Empowerment

Having worked as a public school teacher for a decade, I’m familiar with how thankless and sometimes powerless a teacher’s job can be, and how difficult lack of principal support can make our jobs. While teachers are professionals who take pride in their work, there are often many things out of their control in terms of how schools are run.

If you are a school administrator reading this, you are on the right track to managing a school where staff respect you, feel trusted and confident, and can grow into the strongest educators that they can be. This is of great benefit to them and their longterm careers, as well as the students, and to you too.