Use Personal Teacher Leadership Experiences To Teach Your Student
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010Is it possible for teachers to guide leaders in instruction? Can they encourage your children to become leaders in the future? Well, the first thing you can do in forming your children to become leaders is changing your own education paradigm.
“What in the world do I mean by education paradigm?”
The private or public schools that you attended can be compared to a manufacturing plant. The average schooler goes to this plant or education facility. It begins in kindergarten and then goes up to each level like moving up to first grade. Likened to a conveyor belt, your child takes in the same subject matter as every student in that grade level on the conveyor belt. Your kids are taught only “what to think”. Even if classics are used, the way education occurs in schools is to think what others are telling you what to think.
Too often, teachers lecture and “force-feed” information to their students. Please know I do not believe lectures are bad; they have a place. But too often, teachers lecture, telling their students what to think about the readings. Later on, tests are given to determine if the student knows what the teacher thinks about the readings, not what the students discover about the readings. John Gatto says it well.
After you fall into the habit of accepting what other people tell you to think, you lose the power to think for yourself. John Taylor Gatto, A Different Teacher, 2002
If you are used to being spoon-fed by a teacher, you become reliant on someone else. So, you have a hard time solving your own problems. To become a leader who can solve their own problems and lead others, certain changes must be made in the way your children are taught.
How do you look at education? Do you believe educators needs textbooks for everything? If so, you are training your children to follow. The underlying assumption of textbooks is that the teacher and student do not know enough to evaluate resources so the textbook author will do it for you. All the student has to do is learn the conclusions of the textbook to become successful in “school”. This model of education makes great followers who learn what to think.
Stop and think for a while. Schoolbooks offer questions. If your child can answer them, he can go on to the next grade level or conveyor belt station. These types of learning do not promote thinking outside the answers. You become highly trained but not highly educated.
Leadership education takes a different approach to curriculum. One of the essential elements of leadership education is teaching how to think. I don’t think your children should complete their education and not know how to think on their own. Shifting your educational model from “what to think” to “how to think” can be a major change in your life. Below are some practical ways to set a foundation for this type of education by starting with yourself.
One lifestyle change when teaching your children “how to think” is that it unifies the family into one whole. You, the parent, at first take time to be involved in learning and the development process. It’s not just about handing over to your children all the textbooks. It’s true they learn something with textbooks, but these books can’t teach them “how to think” for themselves.
Where should you start? Begin by reading a classic. That is one way to start your learning as a parent or teacher. Find something that interests you. A young adult classics list is a good way to find one if you are not sure what to read. After reading one, get another. Continue doing this four or five times. This is a good way to begin your own education.
When children see you, their parents, learning and studying, they’ll have a new outlook on what learning is like. They will get as excited as you are about what you are learning. With that said, share with your children what you are learning right now.
After you finish five classics, read another one and add a writing activity. As you read this classic, keep a reading journal. In your reading journal, write down your thoughts about the story. Share your thoughts with someone else.
Now, it is time to start with your own students. Choose a classic to read aloud together. The first classic you read together should be purely for enjoyment. If your students have never enjoyed classics, you may need to read a few more before moving to journaling and discussing. Once you think your children are ready, ask them to journal about the story after you finish reading each day. Then, discuss what the students wrote in their journal.
Francis Bacon said, “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” Three things work well for growing up children who can think on their own. These include reading, writing and Socratic discussion. Classics become the best way to instill these fundamentals of leadership learning.
Kerry Beck has been featured in magazines and podcasts and would like you to find out the best leadership education homeschool curriculum by giving you a special mini-course, ” What Is Leadership In Education “?




















