I came across a teacher-author’s interesting experience while driving on her way home from vacation. Wanting to arrive sooner, she followed a car that took a U-turn on a one-way street. Soon enough, a street police stopped both cars and issued them tickets. “I could not blame the driver ahead of me,” the author said. “I followed him, but he did not realize he became my leader.”
We realize it or not, we become leaders when we become teachers. Students look up at us, trust us, and follow us. To be an effective teacher, therefore, we must be effective leaders.
Pleasant, but not a pleaser. “I asked you last time to try to make someone happy,” a preschool teacher opens. “How many of you have done so?”
“I have,” a boy promptly replied.
“That’s nice, Juan. What did you do?”
“I went to see my Aunt, and she’s always happy when I go home.”
Are people happy when we are around? Then we are probably pleasant. But we should think again if we sense that people dislike our presence. Being congenial to people, however, does not mean we should try to please everyone at the expense of sincerity.
It is always foul to praise, or keep back an embarrassing remark from someone, for the sake of pleasing him. As Lord Alfred Tennyson incisively articulated, “A face-flatterer and backbiter are the same.”
Organized, but not rigid. A tangled leader is a baffled leader. A teacher cannot dispose of efficient services when everything around him is higgledy-piggledy.
Some people would rather tuck papers somewhere — between pages of a book, under other papers, inside drawers with unintelligible contents, etc. So in the end, things they originally “keep” and intend to “use in the future” end up fruitlessly hiding in places they cannot even remember.
- Do we plan how to creatively finish an entire syllabus for a semester without sacrificing instructional quality (or do we often leave our students receiving only half of what they paid for)?
Do we so set up our activities as not to go beyond deadlines (since we know that our bosses feel just the way we feel when our students ignore our deadlines)? - Do we have orderly files of our students’ quizzes, tests and other submissions (because we know for God’s sake that they deserve prompt feedback for efforts they exerted sincerely)?
- Do we keep handy records of incentives we promise to give (as when we say “I’ll give plus 2 to those who….”)?
- Do we maintain systematic folders of lesson notes and materials we use in the class (in the thought of being able to use them again in the future)?
As always, orderliness is a mark of an educated man.
Open-minded, but not all-too-receptive. Charles Kettering once said, “If you’re doing something the same way you’ve been doing it for 10 years, chances are you’re doing it wrong.” We live in a world where the only permanent thing is change.
A department head at a reputable university in Baguio City told of his encounter with a teacher-applicant, who has had extensive experience in teaching a subject. Asked how much she knows the course, she declared, “I’ve been handling the same subject the same way for years. I know it by heart, by the letter.”
She was not taken in.
A broad-minded teacher is open-minded. He doesn’t easily believe anything that he hears, but neither does he close his mind to possibilities. He knows that even his long-held ideas may eventually be proven false tomorrow. He welcomes suggestions, appreciates innovations, and takes corrections maturely and intelligently, and learns from them.
He listens to opinions of others — colleagues and students alike — patiently, sincerely and attentively. He is not confined within the nuke of his perspective, regardless of how “huge” it may be. He takes each day and situation for professional growth and learning.
Democratic, but not loose. Psychologist Glen Elder (1962) had an appealing way of differentiating autocratic from an authoritarian leadership: in an autocratic home, parents do not allow young people to express their opinions or make decisions about any aspect of their own lives; in an authoritarian home, adolescents can contribute opinions, but parents always make the final decision according to their own judgment.
Authoritarian orientation then is plainly autocracy in the guise of “democracy”.
A responsible democratic leader is able to facilitate group decision-making effectively without the fear of bearing the accountability if things go wrong. He appropriately delegates tasks, but does not wash hands off.
In the classroom, democratic atmosphere gives much space for personal growth. Educators Lardizabal, et al. (1996) assert that effective discipline should be based on the tenets of democracy. College students can efficiently contribute to classroom decision-makings.
Furthermore, an effective teacher recognizes the human aspect of every person and makes necessary adjustments. While he knows his rules and keeps up with them, he sees every offense as a unique case. He knows that no one rule — not even one teaching method — applies best to every situation.
Principled, but not stiff. General Reed, President of Congress during the American Revolution, once received an offer — ten thousand guineas — from the British Commissioners, should he desert his country. His answer was clear-cut: “Gentlemen, I am poor, very poor. But your king is not rich enough to buy me.”
A noble teacher (since we claim that teaching is the noblest profession) maintains clear principles in life, and lives by them. He shows values that are worth emulating. He strives to be a genuine model to his students. He does what he knows is right and fair.
Again, even our principles should have room for malleability. We should be the masters, not the slaves, of our philosophies.
I overheard a Math teacher stating, “In Mathematics, all problems have a solution. If something doesn’t have a solution, then it is not a problem.” I see similar precepts when it comes to principles:
“All values ought to be flexible. If something is not flexible, then it is not a value.”
It is equally apt to say, “All true teachers should be principled. If someone is not principled, then he is not a true teacher.”
Frank, but not rude. Frankness is an asset. But it should not be confused with rudeness. One can be utterly forthright without being blunt. The former is motivated by concern and earnestness. The latter is motivated by undomesticated temper or poor breeding, or both.
Communication experts Bagin and Grazian have these to say: “Remember that manners are free. Be as courteous to the mail clerk as you would to the CEO…. People will respect you for doing so…. Be diplomatic without being phony. Avoid hurting others’ feelings….”
A cultured educator knows when and where to correct an errant. He knows that not all places are a right place to rebuke, no matter how noble the intention may be. He judiciously chooses the words to use, and delivers them circumspectly.
Mark Twain’s popular line still holds true today: “To teach is to learn twice.” Indeed, teaching and learning are a duo. And so are learning and leading. Nobody can assert that he is an effective teacher, until he is an effective leader.
