Responsibility IDENTIFIERS *Teacher Empowerment.

This study investigated two questions concerning the empowerment of teachers: (1) What meaaj_ngs do teachers associate with the social practices and social knowledge that inform the social actions of teacher empowerment? and (2) What kinds of events seem to account for, or explicate, the accomplishment of teacher empowerment? Participants in the 1-year demographic study were 40 teachers in a middle school. Evidence from teacher narratives and partjcipant observations revealed the following teacher definition of teacher empowerment: "Teacher empowerment is the opportunity and confidence to act upon one's ideas and to iff-uence the way one performs in one's profession. True empowerment leads to increased professionalism as teachers assume responsibility for and involvement in the decision-making process. " Three principal findings emerged: (1) the,rganizational culture as reflected in the cultural norms promoted and sustained teacher empowerment; (2) the social practices an