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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. "What in the world do I mean by education paradigm?" Most of us grew up in a public or private school, which can be likened to a factory. All the students come to the factory or the school. They start in kindergarten and move on to first grade, down the conveyor belt. At each stage of the conveyor belt (or grade level), the student learns the exact same information as everyone else. The students are told what to think. Even though the school may be using tools like classics, the school's approach to education only teaches students "what to think". Too often, teachers lecture and "force-feed" information to their students. Please know I do not believe lectures are bad; they have a place. But too often, teachers lecture, telling their students what to think about the readings. Later on, tests are given to determine if the student knows what the teacher thinks about the readings, not what the students discover about the readings. John Gatto says it well. 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 If you are used to being spoon-fed by a teacher, you become reliant on someone else. So, you have a hard time solving your own problems. To become a leader who can solve their own problems and lead others, certain changes must be made in the way your children are taught. Are you like the teacher who requires textbooks for every learning activity? That's one way of developing your child to become a follower. Everyone thinks students are not knowledgeable enough to evaluate a particular topic so they depend on the textbook to explain it. Too often, students just learn to read and master only what the textbook wants them to learn. This type of education is very limiting to the student's capability to think and learn. 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. One lifestyle change when teaching your children "how to think" is that it unifies the family into one whole. You, the parent, at first take time to be involved in learning and the development process. It's not just about handing over to your children all the textbooks. It's true they learn something with textbooks, but these books can't teach them "how to think" for themselves. 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. As your children see their parents studying and learning, they begin to have a different idea of what education is all about. You will be excited about what you are learning and want to share it with your own children. After reading four or five classics, get another one to introduce the element of writing. While reading this classic, you should start a reading journal. Put your thoughts on paper about what you've read. Be sure to share it with someone so it becomes a lesson well learned. Now, it is time to start with your own students. Choose a classic to read aloud together. The first classic you read together should be purely for enjoyment. If your students have never enjoyed classics, you may need to read a few more before moving to journaling and discussing. Once you think your children are ready, ask them to journal about the story after you finish reading each day. Then, discuss what the students wrote in their journal. Francis Bacon said, "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." The foundation of good instruction which is reading, writing and discussing is a good way to develop your kids into being able to think on their own. It is absolutely essential that your children, the future leaders, be able to think by themselves and one of the best ways is to get them to read, write and discuss classics.
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About the Article Author
Kerry Beck has been featured in magazines and radio shows and would like parents to discover the superb leadership education homeschool curriculum by offering parents a special report, " What Is Leadership In Education "?
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