Date of Award

7-10-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

College

College of Education and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Sheena Kauppila

Second Advisor

Richard Ellis

Third Advisor

Catharina Middleton

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight and understanding of elementary school teachers’ perspectives of teacher empowerment in relation to six key principles: self-efficacy, professional development, collaboration, communication, shared vision, and support. The teacher perspective remains underrepresented in empowerment research; this study was designed to center the voices of those most directly experiencing empowerment in their daily work. Two research questions guided the study: How do elementary school teachers perceive teacher empowerment in relation to six key teacher empowerment principles and what principle(s) do teachers identify as most influential in fostering their sense of empowerment?

A basic qualitative design was selected to honor the complexity and individuality of teacher experience. Six K-5 public elementary school teachers beyond the novice stage participated in semi-structured one-on-one interviews conducted via Zoom. Sampling captured diverse school contexts, geographic locations, grade levels, and years of experience. Data were collected and analyzed through inductive coding organized around the six principles of the conceptual framework.

Findings related to each principle of teacher empowerment are explored and two overarching themes emerged from cross-cutting analysis of the data. The first theme, empowerment is relational before it is structural, revealed that the quality of relationships with administrators and teammates determined whether any given principle felt empowering. The second theme, support serves as the foundation for all other principles to operate from, identified support as the condition teachers described as necessary before other principles could feel meaningful or accessible.

These findings contribute to the field by centering the teacher perspective in empowerment research and demonstrating that the six principles function relationally rather than independently. Relational investment and individualized support were identified as conditions most essential to teacher empowerment in elementary school settings, with implications for how school leaders and districts should prioritize and structure their work with teachers. Further research is recommended to examine teacher empathy toward administration as a potential retention factor and to explore which leadership styles most naturally foster the relational conditions teachers described as empowering.

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