Leadership and Pedagogy

Pedagogy Matters

Whether it’s technology integration or leadership, pedagogy matters. I have always been a firm believer in the importance of pedagogy and more importantly, a constructivist approach. A prelude to any initiative should always be proper training that translates into proper learning.

Some people do not even agree that constructivism is a valid approach to pedagogy but from my experience with adult learners (andragogy) and young adolescents, it is a valid approach that consolidates the information and appeals to different learning styles. Because students are building on past experiences, constructivist learning connects to real life occurrences thus promoting leadership moments.

We give leadership training to our students before they even walk into the school, they can build on their own experiences to succeed or at the very least have an opportunity for success in the area of leadership. We hold a camp for all students going into our middle school in the spring before their entry. Likewise, we hold a leadership camp for all incoming eighth graders. Additionally, we embed theory of leadership and character in our curriculum. We also hold leadership exchanges and summits with other schools throughout the school year.

Some people argue that leaders are born but those people are stifling their own leadership ability. I will agree that all people are not born with the same opportunities but if properly trained, opportunities to become a leader will emerge. The number of leaders you have around you will exponentially increase your ability to lead.

We need to disseminate leadership theory and at the same time learn what the students want as a school. In turn, the students can train other students in our school and in other schools. If you just give the students leadership opportunities but do not train them to be leaders and offer support, their chances of success decrease tremendously. If their leadership ability deteriorates, so does yours.

“Good leaders create followers, great leaders create more leaders.”