Reflection: Teachers as Leaders

REFLECTION: TEACHERS AS LEADERS

When I read the first paragraph of the reflection, I felt there is nothing more to say. I felt everything that I wanted to share about TEACHERS AS LEADERS was encapsulated in the paragraph. I fully agree with what is written in the paragraph. I would just like to comment on the first sentence which says, “TEACHERS WHO SERVE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES may do so formally or informally.” TEACHERS WHO SERVE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES? It made me ponder: aren’t all teachers leaders? When one becomes a teacher there seems NO CHOICE but to become a leader. I truly feel that if you become a teacher you automatically become a leader. A TEACHER IS A LEADER. “TEACHERS AS LEADERS” is not confined in the four corners of the school. The leadership of a teacher transcends to anywhere she/he may be, be it in the market place, in the church, in fast food chains, in business establishments and especially in their respective homes. A teacher radiates his/her leadership. It is his/her persona itself. Much is expected from a teacher. They are sometimes regarded as perfect beings incapable of making mistakes. No matter how other people downgrade some teachers (primarily because of their salary---then) we cannot strip them from the dignity they gain for molding the minds of youngsters in their training years. Teaching is still the mother of all professions. It is the most noble of work.
Though all teachers are all leaders, leadership is still hierarchal. Each has to collaborate with one’s superiors. Each one is vital in the development of a child. The relationship of a teacher with his/her superior directly affects his/her performance in facilitating improvements in instruction thus affecting student outcomes. One’s superiors can either inspire or dishearten a subordinate and vice-versa. Each contributes to one’s professional growth. Principals are vital in training teachers to become better. The principal’s leadership is like the thread neatly interwoven with others to make a cloth. It defines the quality and the strength of the organization. The relationship of each member of the organization (school) radiates its culture. It is felt by the community.

Principals should serve as inspirations to the teachers they supervise. They should be the channels for growth. They should have a wide range of supervisory experience to manage and lead the organization. The principal should see to it that each of their teachers is given fair opportunity to learn and grow. Their teachers should learn to appreciate their work intrinsically developing in them the desire to teach because they feel that they were born to do so and not because there is no other work available for them. If all principals are inspirations, there will be less media exposures of teachers’ malpractices because there will be none. I bet we would not see teachers physically and emotionally hurting children causing the children to lose their self-confidence. . There will be smiles in the lips of children going to school and there will be lesser children dropping out from schools.