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Can teachers use curriculum to train your children as future pillars of the community? What other ways can you develop your children to become leaders in the future? The first thing to do is to change your own education paradigm. "Why is there a need to change from your paradigm right now?" Most of you attended a public or private school. Those schools are like a factory where your kids start in kindergarten progressing to first grade, much like a conveyor-belt system. Everybody learns the same thing at each grade level or should I say each station on the conveyor-belt. Your children are told what to read, believe and think. Even if classics are introduced, it still makes no difference. The classic approach in a conveyor belt model still makes your kids think about what they've learned at school, but not to think beyond that. This type of spoon-feeding or force-feeding teaching is evident in most schools. I don't think it's wrong, but it doesn't accomplish the goal of educating children for the future as leaders. Here's an example. First, you listen to a lecture. Then your kids start thinking about the what they've read and listened. After that, there is a quiz to ascertain if your child knows what the educator believes on these lectures . . . not what your child is "thinking" in these lectures. As said well by John Gatto below. After you fall into the habit of accepting what other people tell you to think, you lose the power to think for yourself. John Taylor Gatto, A Different Teacher, 2002 When you have a steady diet of lecture, you lose the power to think for yourself. To develop leaders of tomorrow, you need to change the methods used to educate the children of today. Do you see education as teachers having textbooks for every subject out there? If you do, then you are gearing your kids to become followers, not leaders. Everybody thinks that people don't think enough, so they depend on the books to teach them. Just by depending on the author's conclusions, your children become only good in following; they "learn what to think" kind of people. Ponder for a moment. Textbooks give students questions to answer. If the student can answer the chosen questions on a test, he can move on to the next piece of information. Textbooks do not encourage students to think outside of the answers in the teacher's manual. This model has provided our society with highly trained, but poorly educated graduates. Leadership education takes a different approach to curriculum. One of the essential elements of leadership education is teaching how to think. I don't think your children should complete their education and not know how to think on their own. Shifting your educational model from "what to think" to "how to think" can be a major change in your life. Below are some practical ways to set a foundation for this type of education by starting with yourself. As you teach your children how to think, you might see a lifestyle change for your entire family. Leadership education ultimately involves the family as a whole. Initially, it takes much effort from a parent because you must be involved in learning and growing yourself. You can not hand over some workbooks and say "go for it". Workbooks merely teach your children what to think, not how to think. How do you get your kids to know "how to think". Believe it or not, you should start with yourself. As you begin your education as an leadership educator and as a parent, begin reading one classic. Choose an interesting one. If you need help choosing, get a classic list that is tailored for young adults. After that, get another one until you've read four or five classics. With this, you're on a fine path to leadership education. When children see you, their parents, learning and studying, they'll have a new outlook on what learning is like. They will get as excited as you are about what you are learning. With that said, share with your children what you are learning right now. After you finish five classics, read another one and add a writing activity. As you read this classic, keep a reading journal. In your reading journal, write down your thoughts about the story. Share your thoughts with someone else. On to your own children! When starting with your kids, read aloud a classic together. The first one should be for enjoyment purposes only. If they are not used to it at first, its better to read several before going to the journal making and discussion part.If you think they are ready, request them to write in their special journal after each reading. Next, start a discussion about what your children wrote. Francis Bacon said, "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." Reading, writing and discussing is foundational to developing students who think for themselves. If you want your children to be leaders, they must think on their own and classics are the best place to start.
By: Kerry Beck
Kerry Beck has been featured in magazines and radio shows and would like you to discover the superb leadership education homeschool curriculum by offering you a free report, " What Is Leadership In Education "?
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