Teachers As Leaders In The Curriculum

How can teachers use their curriculum to train leaders for the future? How can parents encourage their children to lead when they grow up? The first place to start in raising your students into leadership is to change your own education paradigm.

"Why is there a need to change from your paradigm right now?"

Most of you attended a public or private school. Those schools are like a factory where your kids start in kindergarten progressing to first grade, much like a conveyor-belt system. Everybody learns the same thing at each grade level or should I say each station on the conveyor-belt. Your children are told what to read, believe and think. Even if classics are introduced, it still makes no difference. The classic approach in a conveyor belt model still makes your kids think about what they've learned at school, but not to think beyond that.

Most of the time, the information is given to your kids on a silver platter. Ready to serve and no need to think through the issue at hand. It's not bad, but your kids don't get to use their brilliant minds to think over these things. They simply have tests to assess them. But it does no good because it only tests their knowledge and not their capacity to think. John Gatto best tells this in his book.

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.

Ponder for a moment. Textbooks give students questions to answer. If the student can answer the chosen questions on a test, he can move on to the next piece of information. Textbooks do not encourage students to think outside of the answers in the teacher's manual. This model has provided our society with highly trained, but poorly educated graduates.

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.

To begin your own education as a teacher or parent, start by reading one classic. Choose a classic that interests you. If you're not sure what classic to read, consult a young adult classics list. After you finish your first classic book, read another one. Repeat this until you have read four or five classics. You are off to the start of a fine education for yourself.

Your kids will have a different view on what education is if they see you studying and learning. Plus, you will eventually want to share what you've learned because you will be so excited with what you are learning.

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.

On to your own children! When starting with your kids, read aloud a classic together. The first one should be for enjoyment purposes only. If they are not used to it at first, its better to read several before going to the journal making and discussion part.If you think they are ready, request them to write in their special journal after each reading. Next, start a discussion about what your children wrote.

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.

Article Source: http://www.aword2thewise.com

Kerry Beck has been featured in magazines and podcasts and would like parents to discover the best leadership education homeschool curriculum by offering parents a free mini-course, " What Is Leadership In Education "?

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