Perceptions of the Teacher–Leader in Modern Society: Insights from the Master Teacher's Pedagogy

Abstract

Meeting the challenges of a modern era, including corporate scandal, government gridlock, and societal turmoil, requires a high level of effective leadership. In such an environment, the teacher–leader plays a critical role in cultivating the knowledge worker and learning organization. After all, the teacher–leader leverages the human resource by challenging and inspiring people to bring forth their best efforts and ideas in the quest to identify and implement creative solutions to society's dilemmas. To understand the opportunities and challenges encountered in the teacher–leader paradigm, the pedagogy of a prototypical teacher was modeled and evaluated. As the ideal model of the teacher–leader, the authors selected Jesus Christ, a historical figure whose acumen and influence earned him the title of “Master Teacher.” Jesus Christ was selected because he has repeatedly been recognized as a great leader; a great teacher; and one of the most influential people who has ever lived. Using the biblical record, Jesus’ teaching style was examined and a survey instrument developed and administered to students and faculty at a major university. Three core constructs that underlie Jesus's approach to teaching were identified: 1) empathy and motivation, 2) rigor and internalization, and 3) accountability and measurement. While students and faculty evaluate the techniques that comprise the empathy-and-motivation construct favorably, the other two constructs elicit student evaluations that would be too low for Jesus to obtain tenure. Ultimately, providing the rigor and accountability needed to cultivate personal growth and competitive skills is an unpopular task that professors tend to avoid by teaching to student expectations. Thus, the leadership conundrum—there is little incentive for teachers to lead or to help cultivate tomorrow's leaders.

The world we have created today has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.

– Albert Einstein