What does being a leader for my students imply

Taken from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248740

What does Being a Leader for My Students Imply?

A Brief Reflection on Leadership Styles

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed. School of English Faculty of Social Sciences Universidad Latina de Costa Rica Friday, October 21, 2016 Post 302

Should an educator be a classroom leader? It would be no surprise that almost every single teacher, instructor, and faculty member would state a resounding yes! Still others, -I am almost sure of this-, will question whether they are or not effective leaders in their weekly teaching and will question whether their students are good followers. In spite of all these possible answers, an undeniable fact of our teaching profession, either in primary or high school, college, or any other teaching setting, is that we become the leaders of our own teaching and how that teaching impacts our students. For me the initial sentence for this introductory paragraph cannot be a “should you” question but a “you should” statement; we

teaching professionals should be the leaders of our teaching scenarios .

When one gets to reflect upon one’s teaching practice, this reflection gives us the chance to see how one experiences the kind of leader one is in the classroom, whether this is in a digital or F2F setting. As a teaching professional with more than twenty years in college settings, I strongly believe I have the responsibility to lead my students to deep learning and the development of working skills and competencies they can eventually apply in their current jobs or in future teaching positions they can hold. If we extend this to other teaching fields, learners will construct their learning and competencies as well. As a consequence, being a leader in the classroom is the chance to exercise one’s power to lead others towards learning objectives, which add to an exit profile a student is meant to attain by the time s/he finishes a study program in higher education or elsewhere.

If I am right on my understanding of what leadership in education is, no doubt one has to be the classroom leader one’s students need. Reorganizing the information shared by BusinessDictionary.Com (2016), one can conclude that as a classroom leader, one is meant to “establish a clear vision” for one’s students to attain the required learning in one’s course(s). One’s task as a classroom leader also implies the sharing of “that vision with [one’s learners] so that they follow willingly” in the attainment of learning objectives that are part of a course outline; moreover, the provision of “information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision” and the coordination of “and balancing the conflicting interests of all [class] members” are two other areas one must concentrate on.

Once I observe my interpretation of leadership in the classroom, metacognitively speaking, I also see myself doing the following to exercise my “power” as the class leading person. When the course outline is discussed with learners the very first day in F2F courses, my main intention is to “establish a clear vision” of what needs to be covered along the course, and how it is going to be

covered. Sharing my vision of what I expect from my learners and listening to what they expect from my class is a way to smooth the path to have students follow me willingly towards what needs to be achieved by the end of our course. And part of the exercise of my leadership power is the provision of information and the balance needed when conflicting interests pop up in a class full of WASs (working adult students) coexisting with traditional learners. As someone who is in charge of four more people at one of my two workplaces where I am the head of Curriculum Development and someone who is aware of his expertise acquired in leadership and personnel management, these elements - vision, information provision, and

coordination- are a necessity to have everyone “pulling the learning oxcart” towards the same direction.

This exchange with peers, students, and colleagues needs to be based on

vision, information provision, and coordination , but also on compassionate communication for an effective leadership. Based on Dr. Marshall Rosenberg (2005), Nonviolent Communication (compassionate communication) is the integration of four constructs: “consciousness, language, communication, and means of influence.

As a classroom leader this implies the following: 1.

Consciousness is “a set of principles that support living life of empathy, care, courage, and authenticity.” As educators and course leaders we turn to our learners being empathic, caring, encouraging, and authentic to provide them with the confidence we want them to have to follow us willingly.

2.

Language is “understanding how words contribute to connection or distance.” As teaching professionals and leaders we want to create a community of learning where every single student feels at ease and willing to take risks and exchange ideas; we do not want to be offending anyone with language that creates distance and a feeling of hatred. A good leader brings the class together as a unit not as individual members.

3.

Communication is “knowing how to ask for what we want, how to hear others even in disagreement, and how to move toward solutions that work for all.” A good leader and a good instructor (especially the one working with WASs) is a good listener and negotiator in search of the golden means of communication where everyone is a winner in terms of what needs to be learned and what students want to be taught to be more effective at work.

4.

Means of Influence is “sharing ‘power with others’ rather than using ‘power over others.’” The good teacher/leader always shares his/her “power” with learners to give them responsibility over their learning and over the course of action in a class/course. Imposition is so negative that the whole community of learning can get on a rampage against the “dictator.”

What does being a leader for my students imply ? The implications, based on Dr. Rosenberg’s conception of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), are threefold. First of all, NVC will “increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection” [ CITATION Ros05 \l 1033 ]. As leaders, if we can teach our learners to “live with choice, meaning, and connection,” they will find learning a fun task and fully rewarding for their current or future jobs. Secondly, NCV will help us “connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships” [ CITATION Ros05 \l 1033 ]. For the student this can mean that having more solid relationships with the members of the community of learning (including the faculty member in charge of the class), learning is built in peaceful and fun social contexts where respect is nourished and strengthened. Finally, NVC implies for our leadership the “sharing of resources so everyone is able to benefit” [ CITATION Ros05 \l 1033 ], and so all students in class, traditional or working adults, are always in a win-win situation among themselves and with their professor/leader.

As a final and concluding remark, leadership in teaching implies different but supporting factors that help teachers to become a solid leading figure for learners.

Vision, information provision, and coordination are crucial to start building a good leader-follower (teacher-student) relationship. However, if Rosenberg’s integration of his four constructs, consciousness, language, communication, and means of influence, is not present, the leader may not be that effective when trying to materialize learning for his/her students.

References Leadership. (2016). Taken from the BusinessDictionary.Com webpage at http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html#ixzz4EPl3FIKe Rosenberg, M. (2005). Nonviolent Communication A Language of Life. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press.