The process of learning for humans starts right after they open their eyes to the world. In the rudimentary stages, they learn to recognize the faces around them, and subsequently move on to speaking and walking. It would not be wrong to say that a mother’s lap is the first informal education center for a kid. When they are conscious enough to learn many things, the parents arrange formal education to pass on the baton to their teachers. The teachers have an uphill task of filling the parents’ shoes, and they have to do it for dozens of students at a time, which is quite challenging. It takes several teachers in the kids’ lives to make them capable of learning and to improve their cognitive skills.
The teachers, however, are not alone in the whole process. Many factors contribute to the quality of education a student receives, including the curriculum, infrastructure, administration, parents, and lastly, the teachers. If you must choose only one most defining factor responsible for a student’s enlightenment, you can pick teachers without any speck of doubt. As the Nobel laureate Malala says, one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Given the paramount eminence of teachers, it is also essential that they equip themselves with the necessary knowledge to carry out this significant task. In one way, teachers are the leaders who mentor the leaders of tomorrow. Many teachers opt for edd leadership programs to polish their skills and climb up the leadership ladder to make a bigger impact. Though these programs cover the whole paradigm extensively, here is a synopsis of the skills that turn education leaders into excellent teachers.
Adaptability
We live in a fickle era, which requires a great deal of adaptability due to technological advancements and rapidly changing circumstances. Take the example of the COVID19 outbreak as many schools, colleges, and even universities switch to online classes to maintain social distancing. Modes of education also have to evolve to make the graduates compatible with modern times. Education leaders quickly acclimatize to the changing scenarios, which eases the process for the students. If teachers remain old-school, it will become immensely difficult for them to perform efficiently in a competitive environment. Education leaders, owing to their better understanding, guide the teachers to adapt to the new times.
Communication
Much like every other relationship, the teacher-student relationship thrives on good communication. This skill is crucial for imparting the knowledge of the subject and encouraging the students to ask any question that comes to mind. Education leaders who are not good at communication fail to accurately answer the queries, which further impacts the quality of their education. Students also sub-consciously learn new skills from their teachers, and if they are bad at it, you can imagine what the students would learn. Education leaders encourage teachers and students to participate in activities that enhance communication, like group projects and debating, among many other things. If things do not work out academically, good communication skills allow the teachers to communicate with the parents to understand the situation better. Good communication skills result in the academic success of the students, a study concluded.
Confidence
Shyness has no place in the education sector, as it requires a mastery of many social skills to teach and evaluate multiple students. Without confidence, the leader may not be able to communicate the problems to teachers, which would affect their students. A great deal of confidence emanates from having advanced knowledge of not only the subjects but also about the management of teachers. Another factor that contributes is the experience, and a confident education leader inspires confidence in others. Consequently, colleagues and students significantly benefit as they become better people.
Teamwork
Most of the time, one cannot achieve anything worthwhile without the help of others, as the task is usually to immense for one person. So, leaders not only tell everyone what to do but also encourage them to collaborate by assigning collective tasks. Education leaders have the same task at hand; they mentor teachers to work individually as well as collectively. Education leaders learn from their colleagues either directly or virtually, creating a network for the teachers. The teachers benefit from the knowledge and pass it on to the students by assigning them group tasks and evaluating their performance. Administrators of the schools also consider teamwork among teachers as an essential skill, a study concluded.
Conflict resolution
Much like any other place, education institutions sometimes also face conflict among those who work there. Education leaders understand that they must resolve such conflict before it turns into something big and bring embarrassment to the institution. They listen to both sides and reach an amicable solution that is not only acceptable but also enforceable.
Commitment and organization
Without organization and following the step-by-step approach, education leaders can never make the institution a better place for all the stakeholders involved. Education leaders also find ways to conduct assessments of the other employees in an orderly manner and keep them on their toes. None of this is possible without a full commitment to their job.
Innovation and imagination
Apart from the skills that come with experience and education, the best way to engage everyone is by using imagination. While expecting creativity from members of the team, education leaders ought to be creative on their own. Many education systems take the creativity out of the process by making it a tedious process. The leaders’ imagination comes in to play here, which makes the process fun for both the teachers and students. Innovation is another method that good education leaders employ to help others. Technology is everyone’s friend, and online resources can help leaders a lot if they want to bring a certain degree of novelty to their methodology.
Key Takeaways
Learning is a process that never stops, but its quality depends on the procedure you adopted for the matter. Formal learning process or education, as we call it, revolves mostly around the teachers. The teachers can only get better if there are education leaders who push them towards improvement. With leadership comes great responsibility, and the best way to exercise it is through higher education to understand the nuances of best teaching practices—adaptability, communication, and confidence, among other attributes that differentiate the best leaders from the rest.
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