Transforming Education Through Teacher Empowerment in Namibia: Possibilities and Challenges

Abstract

Considering that teacher empowerment takes many forms (teacher autonomy, decision-making, collaborative leadership, etc.), I take the position that teacher empowerment is excellent in transforming education in developing countries. My objective is to demonstrate this through a review of literature, legislative, and policies in Namibia. I complete the review with an in-depth analysis of key informant interviews on teacher empowerment in Namibia. I argue that although the Cabinet of the Republic of Namibia directed the Ministry of Education to implement several resolutions that emanated from the 2011 National Education Conference (e.g., upgrade teachers—at both national and foreign institutions, strengthen teacher training and development, provide more in-service teacher education and more teaching and learning materials for mathematics, science, technology, lower primary and languages, reduce the administrative work load of teachers to afford more time for teaching and learning activities; improve pre-service and in-service training of teachers in national languages), there is unfortunately a paucity of research data in the country pertaining to concerns and challenges regarding teacher quality and quality education as well as teacher empowerment. I conclude that for Namibia to achieve Vision 2030 and become a knowledge-based economy, we need to invest in research on teacher empowerment.