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Teachers As Leaders In The Curriculum
Is 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.
Is 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.
This type of spoon-feeding or force-feeding teaching is evident in most schools. I don’t think it’s wrong, but it doesn’t accomplish the goal of educating children for the future as leaders. Here’s an example. First, you listen to a lecture. Then your kids start thinking about the what they’ve read and listened. After that, there is a quiz to ascertain if your child knows what the educator believes on these lectures . . . not what your child is “thinking” in these lectures. As said well by John Gatto below.
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
When you are continually being force-fed with information, you start to become dependent and have difficulty in thinking for yourself. To become future leaders, it is important to modify your education paradigm that you use with your children.
Are you like the teacher who requires textbooks for every learning activity? That’s one way of developing your child to become a follower. Everyone thinks students are not knowledgeable enough to evaluate a particular topic so they depend on the textbook to explain it. Too often, students just learn to read and master only what the textbook wants them to learn. This type of education is very limiting to the student’s capability to think and learn.
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.
As you develop your children to think, you may see some changes happening in your household This new type of education involves the whole family and binds them together so it takes a little time of adjustment. It may first take a toll on the parent because all the effort begins from you. It’s not as easy as handing them books and telling them to start learning and thinking. Those textbooks only serve to teach them “what to think”, not prepare 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 reading four or five classic books, incorporate a writing session. Keep a reading journal at your side when reading the sixth one. Write what you think about the classic and then share it with someone. Sharing your insights with others is vital to becoming a leader yourself, so model this for your children.
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.” The foundation of good instruction which is reading, writing and discussing is a good way to develop your kids into being able to think on their own. It is absolutely essential that your children, the future leaders, be able to think by themselves and one of the best ways is to get them to read, write and discuss classics.