“Leaders are Learners.” This is a statement that I have heard over and over again in reference to the role of an educator, mentor, manager, or anyone in some kind of an influential role. What it means is that in order to be a good leader, you have to first make your priority to be a learner. You must demonstrate your willingness to learn about those you are leading – your students; you must show your ability to adapt to the changing environments and world around you – being aware of the classroom atmosphere; you must be open to change, and show wisdom and discernment in the process of making it a part of your schema – realizing where your students are at emotionally, mentally, and physically, and accommodating those elements; and by living your life in such a way you will affect your students by creating in them a desire to live like you.

I believe that my students will benefit from my “Leaders are Learners” approach to teaching because they will find that I will care for them – academically and personally. My students will find my classroom to be a dynamic classroom – one where although the rules stay the same, the environment changes. They will find themselves involved in the lives of others: those people they see, hear and read about in the media, and also their classmates. They will find themselves in the middle of community, daily discovering how to respectfully engage others in conversation, and learning what it means to be cared for and be given a fresh start every day to be the best possible version of them. I believe that in order for this to happen it has to start with me – it has to start with a willingness by me to engage them in a meaningful way, giving them opportunity to try to succeed in a safe environment.

Needless to say, I believe strongly in the importance of community, empathy, and communal care. I believe that to make a global impact, you have to start somewhere – you have to start locally. I believe that everyone has some desire to positively affect the lives of others – it is part of what makes us human. When I strive to understand my students’ needs, dreams, and desires they will feel cared for, and will work towards continuing it on with those people they daily encounter. By basing the classroom environment and rules around this we learn about community, and as I desire to teach to the whole person, I find this to be of utmost importance.

Academically, I believe in the utilization of all forms of learning as there are multiple forms of intelligence. Although it might not be possible to write a lesson plan for each type of learner, I do believe it is possible to incorporate all three types, in varying levels, into every lesson. I want my students to succeed, so I will do what it takes to assist them in this – I want to provide them with the chance to do well, so I will try to do my part in making lessons and examples personal, relevant, and in the vernacular that speaks best to them.

I believe it is important for children to learn how to be critical thinkers. By allowing students the opportunity to think open-endedly and use their own life experiences and creativity, I believe that it is possible to teach critical thinking without teaching them to be critics, (teaching them to put-down everything and anything). What I desire for my students is for them to develop the mental ability to properly evaluate, give weight to, and decide upon all the information that is given to them. I do not want them to merely replicate what I say and do – I want them to evaluate all I do, (as I am human and greatly flawed) and I want them to decide which parts of me and my message they should take to heart. I then want them to take this skill into their everyday lives: when they watch TV, listen to the radio, are talking to their parents at dinner time. I want to provide them with the skills to make decisions, and to how to make informed, confident decisions.