It is only by having such experiences that
followers are enabled, in turn, to become leaders.
=Teaching vs. Telling.=--As has been shown in an earlier chapter, the
lack of leadership is frequently exhibited in the classroom when the
teacher, instead of inducing self-activity and self-expression on the
part of the pupils, proceeds to recite the whole lesson himself. He asks
leading questions and then, at the slightest hesitation on the part of a
pupil, he suggests the answer; he asks another leading question from
another point of view; he puts words into the mouth of the pupil who is
trying in a pitiable way to recite; and ends by covering the topic all
over with words, words, words of his own. This is poor leadership on the
part of the teacher and gives no opportunity for real cooperation on the
part of the pupils. The teacher takes all the glory of reciting, and
leaves the pupil without an opportunity or the reward of
self-expression.
=Enlisting the Cooeperation of Pupils.=--All children--and in fact all
people--if approached or stimulated in the proper way--like to _do_
things, to perform services for others. A pupil always considers it a
compliment to be asked by his teacher to do something for him, if the
relations between the teacher and pupil are normal and cordial. This
must, of course, be the case if any truly educative response is to be
elicited. Socrates once said that a person cannot learn from one whom he
does not love. The relation between pupil and teacher should be one of
mutual love and respect, if the educational process is to obtain. If
this relation does not exist, the first duty of the teacher is to bring
it about. Sometimes this is difficult. I once heard a teacher say that
it took him about three weeks to establish this relation between himself
and one of his pupils. He finally invited the pupil out hunting with him
one Saturday, and after that they were the best of friends. The pupil
became one of the leaders in his school and his cooperation was secured
from that time forward. In this instance the teacher showed marked
leadership as well as practical knowledge of psychology and pedagogy.
Francis Murphy, the great temperance orator, understood both leadership
and cooperation, for he always, as he said, made it a point to approach
a man from the "south side."
A pupil, if approached in the right way, will do anything in his power
for his teacher. There may be times when wood or fuel must be provided,
when the room must be swept and cleaned, when little repairs become
necessary, or an errand must be performed. In such situations, if the
teacher is a real leader and if his school and he are _en rapport_,
volunteers will vie with each other for the privilege of carrying out
the teacher's wishes. This would indicate genuine leadership and
cooperation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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