Between Enslavement and Empowerment. The Idea of Empowerment in the Work of a Polish Academic Teacher

Reflecting on the concept, meaning, and properties of empowerment prompted an analysis of selected forms and areas of academic teachers’ activities. The author examines the factors that support and limit academic teacher empowerment, as well as its various dimensions. Depending on the emotional states that accompany the actions undertaken by the respondents, a sense of agency or enslavement appears. The research is situated within the interpretive paradigm, and the article is based on the findings of qualitative research conducted using unstructured interviews with academic teachers.