Leadership

The recent chapters we have been assigned to read, my recent classroom experiences, and the generic socio-political climate have led me to think a great deal about leadership and role models, both inside and outside the classroom.

In general society, we rely on leaders for two reasons. In a positive light, we look toward leaders to create changes, be inspirational, represent us positively to other nations and boost morale. Sometimes leaders exert actual power over others, whereas others merely serve as figureheads (for example, the Queen of England?). In a negative light, we use leaders as scapegoats for any and all events they may represent, whether or not they are actually responsible. No single individual could possibly be at fault for all the world's evils, or even for the majority of societal problems in America, and yet the current President is pointed at as the single catalyst for disaster worldwide.

We also look to leaders to do the work for us. As Block notes, this behavior pushes off not only the blame for when things go wrong but the responsibility for making change and fixing what had gone wrong onto the "leaders", rather than taking initiative and creating community in smaller groups.

In the greater society, especially considering a capitalist society, power is assumed by those who carry the most financial wealth. In the classroom, however, we are concerned with "knowledge wealth" (social capital, experiential capital) - the one who knows the most about a subject acquires the most power in the environment at that time. If this is the teacher, or more accurately, if the teacher communicates that he or she is omniscient and the students carry no knowledge, then he or she is assuming all the power in the classroom. A dictatorship inevitably leads to revolt, either in the classroom or in greater society, and so the teacher will lose respect and ultimately lose power.

Leaders are similar to role models. It amazes me the number of role models (examples for acceptable behavior, positive or negative, damaging or helpful, etc.) surround children and teenagers today, especially those in the media. But real people serve the same purpose - their peers and adults in their lives will influence students' world views.

Teachers are role models. As pre-service teachers, we must accept the fact that we are going to be role models, whether we like it or not, to hundreds of young people. Our choice lies in how we are going to present ourselves (be accountable) and how we can serve the community positively.