This paper explores notions of empowerment, as variously constructed in contemporary educational discourse, in an attempt to better understand what it means to adopt empowering rhetoric. The discussion is framed around three questions: (1) What is empowerment in contemporary educational discourse? (2) What is desirable, and what should teachers be empowered for? and (3) What is possible and, realistically, what can be achieved? The paper begins with a brief etymological analysis of the term "empowerment." In this section, it is concluded that the use of the term itself implies the acceptance of certain assumptions about power and power relations. Next, the term "teacher empowerment," as it is used in teaching and teacher education, is examined. References are made to conservative, liberal humanist, and critical educational discourses and specific notions of teacher empowerment are clarified. Reference is made to the structure/agency debate in contempoarary social theory in order to demonstrate some issues and problems of empowerment rhetoric. Recent work in poststructuralism and postmodernism, which offer an alternative notion of power, are considered. (JD)