{"id":3418,"date":"2022-12-03T06:57:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T12:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=3418"},"modified":"2023-03-28T21:45:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T02:45:42","slug":"3-leadership-books-for-teachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2022\/12\/03\/3-leadership-books-for-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Leadership Books for Teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Teachers are the leaders<\/a> of their classrooms. Now, this may seem obvious (who else would be in charge?), so let me explain. Teachers are responsible for the execution of classroom objectives and the development of their students. In a healthy school, they are given the freedom and responsibility, within a broader structure of administrative oversight, to make key decisions pertaining to how they will empower their students to learn and grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a teacher responsible for teaching The Great Gatsby<\/em> must consider how the book will be taught, what she will focus on, and how she intends for students to develop and grow through the study. Each day, she walks into a room full of students in need of direction for approaching the text. This requires leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In modern educational circles, we often speak, not of leadership, but of \u201cclassroom management.\u201d Unfortunately, this phrase is embedded with faulty assumptions about who students are, what the purpose of learning is, and how we are to manage them toward some desirable end. As a result, classroom management techniques are problematic in two key ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, classroom management techniques are often behavioristic. In other words, they seek to address the behavior of students through systems of external rewards and consequences, rather than aiming to form the whole person <\/a>of the child, especially the heart. Strategies are deployed to artificially motivate behaviors of respect, obedience, service, and even kindness in a way disconnected from the child\u2019s internal moral development. Is this child growing in a love and understanding of the idea of respect for authority? How is the child becoming more servant-hearted in her disposition? These questions are not usually asked in typical classroom management conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Second, classroom management techniques are often task-oriented rather than people-oriented. This makes sense since the phrase emerged during the post-industrial revolution in which the effective and efficient completion of tasks was prized above all else. Now, at its best, modern business management theory<\/a> is<\/em> people-oriented, but most managers too easily slip into the mindset of \u201cHow do I get this employee to perform this task?\u201d rather than \u201cHow do I lead this employee on a path toward growth and increasing expertise?\u201d The latter focuses on the development of the talent and skill of people, not simply whether they are hitting the deadlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To equip teachers to grow as true leaders of their students, in this article I will recommend three recently published leadership books that contain relevant ideas for classroom leadership. These resources will help teachers see their true leadership role and therefore embrace the responsibility for them to invest deeply in the lives of their students. While teachers will need to push through some of the business-focused examples of these resources, the underlying ideas are <\/em>both relevant and applicable for classroom leadership today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multipliers<\/em> by Liz Wiseman <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The first book I want to recommend is Multipliers<\/em><\/a> (HarperCollins, 2017) by researcher Liz Wiseman. In this book, Wiseman sets out to show how leaders can make people under their supervision smarter, rather than targeting mere compliance. Early on, she differentiates between two managers, the Genius Maker and the Genius (9). The genius maker grows people\u2019s intelligence by \u201cextracting the smarts and maximum effort from each member on the team.\u201d This type of leader talks only about 10% of the time, thereby making space for others to grow through active participation in coming up with solutions to a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, the genius is self-oriented. He is smart and successful, and everyone in the room knows who has the best ideas. He may facilitate \u201cconversations\u201d but soon these turn into opportunities for him to share his correct views with others. After all, he is the genius. Why not just listen to him? The result is that people do not have the permission to think for themselves or the legitimate responsibility to make decisions. It all goes back to what the genius thinks is right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Wiseman, the genius maker is a multiplier of of intelligence while the genius is actually a diminisher. At heart, multipliers \u201cinvoke each person\u2019s unique intelligence and create an atmosphere of genius\u2013innovation, productive effort, and collective intelligence\u201d (10). The upshot is that these leaders not only access people\u2019s current capability, they stretch it. People actually report getting smarter under the supervision of multipliers. The fundamental assumption of a multiplier is \u201cPeople are smart and will figure this out\u201d whereas the assumption of the diminisher is \u201cThey will never figure this out without me\u201d (20). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers can become multipliers of intelligence in their classrooms by resisting the urge to be the residential genius. Although they are<\/em> older, smarter, and more experienced, these assets can be leveraged to empower their students toward growing their own abilities, rather than making it all about the teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diagnostic Questions for Teachers:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n