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The Teacher as a Leader
Everybody’s
motivated
to
do
something—or
so
they
say;
but
motivating
a
group
to
follow
you—that
could
be
a
different
story.
One
way
is
to
demand
respect.
I
call
it
the
drill
sergeant
approach.
It’s
usually
a
man
and
it
often
entails
a
lot
of
yelling.
The
most
obvious
and
yet
most
painful
example
of
this
is
the
way
many
parents
deal
with
their
children.
“If
you
don’t
stop,
you’re
going
to
get
it.”
I’ve
often
wondered
what
“it”
is.
Another
approach
is
surrender:
the
exact
opposite
of
demand.
Here,
the
leaders
begs
for
cooperation,
but
in
so
doing,
only
invites
rebellion.
Even
adults
will
engage
in
a
struggle
for
control
if
the
leader
is
perceived
as
weak.
Many
use
rewards
to
get
a
class
to
cooperate.
This
has
limited
value.
The
rule:
If
the
reward
is
more
valuable
to
the
student
than
the
thing
rewarded,
the
reward
is
counter
productive.
The
most
effective
approach
to
gaining
a
group’s
confidence
is
to
build
supportive
relationships.
This
begins
with
listening
and
develops
through
involvement
in
their
lives.
In
Larry
Richard’s
classic,
A
Theology
of
Christian
education,
he
makes
this
statement:
“Much
of
education
is
concerned
with
helping
people
know
what
their
teachers
know.
Christian
education
is
concerned
with
helping
people
become
what
their
teachers
are.”
This
is
the
essence
of
leadership. Robert
Edmiston,
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