Empowerment of Students

By Rachel Dewberry, PharmD

PGY1 Pharmacy Resident, MedStar Union Memorial Hospital 

What is empowerment?  Empowerment is defined as providing a student with a “sense of confidence, capability, competence, and self-esteem to meet life’s challenges”.¹

We often see students approach learning as an unbearable task, a task that will be incredibly difficult, with a topic where students worry that they are not smart enough to comprehend.¹ How can teachers reverse these thoughts and turn these students into empowered students?

Student empowerment starts with inspiration, encouragement, and recognition from educators.¹ When students gain recognition from educators, students will feel more capable, competent, and willing to continue the path of learning.¹ 

Some literature notes that there are certain strategies of empowerment, backed with research, that impact academic performance.¹ One of these strategies is reinforcement and recognition.¹ We often hear in classrooms the, “good job!” or “way to go!” to show a teachers satisfaction with a students performance. However, research shows this strategy does not work.¹ This strategy lacks explanation of what exactly the student did well on.  Instead, research shows that reinforcement/recognition connected with a standard of achievement, like grades, provides more empowerment to a student. Recognition that is clearly defined, measurable, and that is connected with a grade where a student can recognize their fault is more empowering than the “good job!” model.¹

Further, sometimes as educators, we need to step back and empower our students to take charge of their own learning. Students know their own selves better than any teacher could. They are aware of the things they are confident in, and things that challenge them, along with the dreams they have.² With that said, there are 5 strategies that can help to empower students at any age.

The first strategy is choice.² As educators it is our job to make sure students accomplish certain goals/expectations. However, a teacher could set the end goal for a student and allow the student the choice on which path to take to accomplish the end goal. This allows the students to be their own guide.² Bumps in the road may ensue, but the best type of learning comes from mistakes and corrections.² By identifying the mistakes and acknowledging how to not make the mistake a second time is truly empowering in itself.²

The second strategy is reflection.² Students who actively engage in the learning process need time to reflect on their knowledge and connections. This is essential to retention of material.  Reflection also allows for closure to situations, conversation on what went well and what went wrong, with a lesson naturally being taught in the reflection.² Reflection empowers students to make sense of what they are learning.²

The third strategy is allowing students to be teachers.² By allowing students to be teachers, they will have the opportunity to articulate their knowledge. Students are then given the chance to help others understand a concept, and by doing so, suggests and empowers the student that they too can be the expert on the topic.²

The last strategy is student voice.² “The most valuable voice in the learning environment is that of the student”.² The student is the consumer of the material being taught, and the consumer can provide feedback in regards to if their needs are being met.² By taking students feedback into account, a teacher can build a students trusts and empower the student to think critically about the information they are consuming.²

Students are our future. By empowering students today, we are investing in our future. It can be a challenge to empower students, however, these strategies can help to provide the first step of investing into our future.

1.   Denti L. Proactive Classroom Management [Internet].  Monterey Bay, (CA): Corwin: c2012. Proactive Teaching and Empowering Students: [cited 2017 April 17]; Available from: https://uk.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/46479_denti_ch_1.pdf

2.   Brennan C. Empower Students: 5 Powerful Strategies [Internet]. Cheny, (WA): The Whole Child Blog; 2012 March 16. Available from: http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/empower-students-5-powerful-strategies

3.   Nichols JD. Empowerment and relationships: A classroom model to enhance student motivation. Springer; 2006 Oct 6; 9(2):149-161