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Philosophy Paper:

The Education of Leaders

Through the Eyes of a Leader

Matthew Kimball

Education 230: Section 2

April 28, 2009

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Abstract

This paper explores exactly what a teacher leader is and how God, the Marines, and my personal

experiences have shaped all aspects of my educational philosophy. Topics include: Character,

beliefs about students, classroom environment, school purpose, curriculum, teaching and

learning, and discipline. Much of the content was based on 7 years of personal experiences

where I was a leader utilizing practical mentoring and teaching techniques on a daily basis. Many

current texts with topics geared towards education in today’s society were then used to add

backing to the ideas that worked for me in the field.

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Outline

Introduction:

1. Teachers are Leaders

2. Arriving at my calling

3. Thesis

a. Being a teacher leader is a powerful calling that will effect every aspect of

how I teach and what I believe about schools, the curricula, disciplining,

and the all important relation that a teacher cultivates with his students.

Body:

ME:

1. Displaying character through The 14 Marine Corps Leadership Characteristics

a. Justice

b. Judgment

c. Dependability

d. Integrity

e. Decisiveness

f. Tact

g. Initiative

h. Enthusiasm

i. Bearing

j. Unselfishness
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k. Courage

l. Knowledge

m. Loyalty

n. Endurance

2. Professionalism must be modeled

a. 11 Leadership principles

i. Know yourself and seek self improvement

ii. Be technically and tactically proficient

iii. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions

iv. Make sound and timely decisions

v. Set the example in all things

vi. Know your men and look out for their welfare

vii. Keep your men informed

viii. Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates

ix. Ensure that the task is understood, supervised, and

accomplished

x. Train your men as a team

xi. Employ your men in accordance with their capability

b. Dress

c. Language

d. Mannerisms

e. Titles

3. What I ultimately want to accomplish in my role

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a. NCO Creed

b. Knowledge

c. Experiences

d. Mentor/counselor

4. Displaying Christ in the public setting

a. Enthusiasm

b. Respectful

c. Inadvertent evangelism – Dirk.

STUDENTS:

1. I believe students to be good or lost and sometimes both

2. Favoritism and student-teacher relationships

3. Motivation is key

a. Extrinsic

b. Intrinsic

THE CLASSROOM:

1. A safe and academic environment

2. Operational logistics and critical procedures

a. Wong 1

b. Wong 2

c. Wong 3

3. Structure of my classroom

4. Aesthetics of my classroom
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SCHOOLS:

1. Schools should attempt to teach three major areas

a. Trade skills, or getting into further training for trade work

b. College or professional arena that requires further formal training

c. Leadership tract/military career or police/EMT/Fire rescue, things that

require an academy or boot camp.

2. What different school types try to accomplish

a. Public

b. Charter

c. Christian

3. I want to teach in a charter school

CURRICULUM:

1. Source of all truth is God

2. Teaching absolute truth is possible

3. Knowledge be divided into sections

a. Human/secular

b. Divine/ religious

4. Teaching from a biblical platform

a. Examples.

TEACHING AND LEARNING:

1. Learning will open students’ eyes

2. Integrated learning is a fantastic method of teaching

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3. Moral principles are a cornerstone to education and succeeding in life

a. Integrity

b. Honesty

c. Work ethic

4. Creative expression in students will be expressed.

DISCIPLINE:

1. Correcting students through disciplinary measures

2. Classroom rules ensure knowledge of what is and isn’t acceptable behavior.

3. Classroom rules

a. Severe point penalties for late assignments

b. Only specific questions will be answered

c. Assignments are due in my box on my desk as soon as you walk in, all

others are late

d. No cell phone allowed

e. Emergency bathroom use only, one person at a time; I’ll have a big

goofy looking hall pass

f. Sharpen pencils at will; pencil sharpener is in the back

g. All hand written assignments must be in pencil

h. Raise your hand to speak

4. Classroom disciplinary system

a. Level 1: verbal chagrin in front of class, on the spot. Used to keep the

class in line, now everyone will see that I am firm and fair. I also care

about the rules.

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b. Level 2: staying after class for the one on one approach so I can

determine if something else is going on.

c. Level 3: Phone call home, or detention. Dependent on what became of

level two. To see if something at home is going on or if the parent

even knows about the issue.

d. Severe penalties: Dock in grade, suspension. Defer to school policy.

This is out of my hands if it is that bad. I like to keep problems at my

level.

5. Generally speaking some ways are better than others to discipline a student

a. Constructive outlets.

Conclusion:

1. Thesis

a. Being a teacher leader is a powerful calling that will effect every aspect of

how I teach and what I believe about schools, the curricula, discipline, and the

all important relation that a teacher cultivates with his students.

2. The readers personal connection

3. Teacher leader is all about character

4. Teacher leader is all about the relationship

5. Proverbs 22.6
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INTRODUCTION

Teachers are leaders. This simple and unsuspecting statement can be extremely powerful

when unpacked fully. It has been a long time in coming as I slowly discovered my purpose in

life. It is for certain that I have taken the longer and less traveled road and I whole heartedly

believe it is God who has been preparing me by allowing such unique experiences to present

themselves in my life. As I look back at the events that have shaped me and where I stand today

as a person of God and as a person of character, I know I am hard wired to be a teacher leader.

Being a teacher leader is a powerful calling that will effect every aspect of how I teach and what

I believe about schools, the curricula, disciplining, and the all important relation that a teacher

cultivates with his students.

ME

Who I am as a person governs everything in my life. How I act, what I value, what I

believe, how I’ll teach, and how I’ll present myself. These things, people try and sum up into

convenient words and over simplified characteristics. I have chosen a set of characteristics that I

feel adequately describe me in a ‘nutshell’. These are not inclusive, but certainly would be a

large part of who I am.

I have spent the majority of the last seven years in the employ of the United States

Marine Corps, which has been called the greatest school in the world for leadership training. It’s

a school of hard knocks and one of formal purposeful teaching. I’ve learned 14 leadership

characteristics that I have come to appreciate as high qualities of a leader and strive most days to

achieve. They are: justice, judgment, dependability, integrity, decisiveness, tact, initiative,
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enthusiasm, bearing, unselfishness, courage, knowledge, loyalty, and endurance (USMC, 1989).

They form the acronym JJ DID TIE BUCKLE for easy remembering. These were compiled from

238 years of hard lessons learned under extremely stressful conditions (USMC, 1989). The

Marine Corps does an extremely good job of fostering a warrior ethos and part of that is

incorporating these leadership characteristics into our everyday lives. It works very well. I

confidently intend on bringing these traits into my classroom in creative and respectful ways.

These characteristics manifest in many ways. Justice is shown in the classroom by

treating everyone with the same legalize, meaning every student under my tutelage and guidance

will be treated, assessed, disciplined, and rewarded the same. Judgment deals with my idealistic

values that I have accumulated through my parents’ mentoring and personal experiences. I will

bounce what students say and do off my prior, Christian beliefs and hold them to these standards

when dealing with morality, and appropriateness in my classroom. I will be committed to being

dependable, i.e. always turning back graded assignments in a timely fashion, always being

prepared, always being enthusiastic, and a man of my word. Integrity is the most important

leadership characteristic in my opinion. I will exemplify this as a person of God and as a teacher

and roll model. I will strive to be transparent and honest with students so as to show them it is

important to do what is right when no one is looking. A great leader must be decisive and will

display this in his ability to think on his feet and roll with new inputs. Decisiveness is about

being able to make another choice under less than desirable circumstances and take it to it’s

fullest potential. There will be difficulty when teaching controversial issues and a good teacher

leader will utilize tact to unobtrusively convey these sensitive areas. We must continue to take

initiative and jump on ideas and opportunities as they come along. We as teachers should desire

to turn the knob on the door instead of waiting for it to pop open for us. Enthusiasm is so
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important in keeping your students excited about the subject area. The best thing about

enthusiasm is it’s contagious. In the Marines we have a saying, “False motivation is better than

no motivation.” It’s amazing to watch people feed off your fake motivation and that can in turn

pull you out of a slump. Not everyday will be a GREAT day, and we should always “Hope for

the best and prepare for the worst.” Bearing is a very professional trait and should be taken in

small doses to achieve the ideal balance. Bearing is about maintaining your body control and

knowing when you have to be serious and when you can let go and show your true personality.

That’s why it’s a balance, people with too much bearing come off as sterile and too stoic, which

can turn students away. You must still maintain that professional authoritative figure. It’s a

balance. Unselfishness is the heart of being a teacher. In all things we must make it about the

students, not a ‘professor’ of yourself; we are TEACHERS. Courage. Courage, is something that

many people will never understand. Courage is being afraid of something with full knowledge of

the consequences, and still doing what needs to be done because of an intrinsic drive of duty and

calling. As teachers we will face times where you see something that needs to be done, it is

extremely unpopular, but it still needs to be done. Knowledge is the classic hallmark of the

academic world and we as educators should be experts in all aspects of this characteristic. We

must have the knowledge. We must know how to get and maintain the knowledge. We must

know how to convey the knowledge. We also need to know how to make knowledge interesting

and, on top of all that, put pizzazz on it. Loyalty can be easily displayed by attending after school

functions, wearing school colors, being a confidant that doesn’t spread rumors, and making your

students a priority in your life. Endurance. Endurance. Endurance. This quality is what will kill

many teachers in the early times of their careers. The school year is long, 20 years of teaching is

long, 30 years of teaching is long, and sport seasons are long. If you have no endurance with
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these characteristics they are as useless as a cup of water in the ocean. As teachers we need to set

an appropriate rhythm to the school year. Students are perceptive and can pick up on the

organized chug of the machine and will pace alongside you easily enough. These 14 leadership

characteristics are ideals that I personally strive to achieve in my daily life. I feel they will

govern my actions and motivations when dealing with everything else and will refer back to

them often.

Professional development was taught right alongside character development as I grew up

in the Marine Corps. Steven Sturkey wrote a book about the warrior culture and explains the 11

Marine Corps Principles very well (Sturkey 2001). They are basically a list on how to deal with

your Junior Marines in a professional and mentoring manner; they understood that leaders are

excellent professional teachers. A large portion of these principles pertain to professional

development and teaching. We were instructed that in order to grow as a professional leader we

needed to exemplify these principles.

“Know yourself and seek self improvement.” As professionals we need to constantly look

in the mirror and critically analyze what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong and

strive to fix this, generally through continued education. “Be technically and tactically

proficient.” It is considered unprofessional to stand up in front of someone and totally blow

smoke in their face with bad knowledge and uncaring towards them about what you are teaching.

So know your content. “Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.” Many

employers tout ‘responsibility for your actions’. “Make sound and timely decisions.”; “Set the

example in all things.”; “know your men and look out for their welfare.” These things were

considered my job. So in order to be professional I had to do my job. This would be true for any

mentorship position and teachers are no exception. “Keep your men informed.” I see this being
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used in the classroom as a list of the daily items to be accomplished on the board and a few long

term goals on the board as well. “Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates.” This is

a different way of saying, inspire professionalism in your students. Every great teacher knows

students are still kids, and thus: “Ensure that the task is understood, supervised, and

accomplished.” In today’s society especially, we must “Train your men as a team.” This can be

manifested in the classroom as group work or projects to be collaborated on. “Employ your men

in accordance with their capabilities.” This can be referred to when you are assessing your

students development. (Sturkey 2001) I have been taught that these things are defining principles

that professionals should follow so that they are respected and effective at their job. Along with

these are a few that the Marines teach in other areas of the culture. I feel dressing well and being

of good hygiene are hallmarks of a professional person. As teachers we need to watch our

language, contextually as well as the vernacular. Mannerisms as a teacher have gotten many

amazing professionals in trouble. This will regulate the degree with which you interact with

students. You can and should be there during tough times for the student, but avoid the lovey-

dovey-touchy. It can be completely innocent and still horribly construed. A way that we as

teachers and coaches can maintain the level of professionalism that should be present is through

the use of titles. Don’t allow students or athletes, or Junior Marines to use your first name in a

buddy-buddy manner. You are the authority figure and should present yourself as such. This will

inadvertently teach them about God and show them a picture of God being the boss and showing

you a better way to live. The 11 leadership principles point to the idea of being prepared, and

making sure your “men” are prepared. They were talking about in a war of bullets. I’m talking

about a war for their minds’. The idea of ‘a war for their minds’ brings up what I want to

accomplish as a teacher. The Non-Commissioned Officer Creed sums it up nicely.

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I will never forget that I am responsible to my

Commanding Officer for the morale, discipline,
and efficiency of my men. Their performance
will reflect an image of me. 
(Sharp 2001)

This is the epitome of how I want to cause my students to grow. I believe that my job is

to supply good foundations of methodology and well known scientific facts so that God can

work His will and finish the job. I prepare the field if you will. I am not responsible for exerting

my beliefs on the students, but they will know I’m a Christian by how I love them. I am a role

model that they should look up to in all aspects of my public life, and in turn I have a huge

responsibility to live up to those expectations I place on myself. I am in a position to push them

to the point of almost failure. I do not intend for them to be disappointed by what they cannot

reach, but to take heart in all that they did reach when they thought they couldn’t. I get so excited

when I see my athletes succeed in this. It is truly a blessing to watch it unfold. Rarely does

anyone know their true potential, I have to help them uncover as much of that potential as

possible; sometimes that involves hitting walls. This is when the student is ready to have Christ

take over and send them further than either of us thought he could.

By showing the dedication and excitement I take in being with the students and the active

roles I intend to play in the school, my colleagues, parents, and students will know my heart.

When colleagues and myself go out for drinks or dinners or what have you, they will know by

my engagement in conversation and by being a good friend that I am a follower of Christ. People
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tend to recognize respect when it’s given. I will strive to put myself in that position to answer

those “what do you have going on that I don’t?” questions. I have a personal note on this topic.

I was shocked, dumbfounded, and ecstatic when my best friend invited me to his baptism.

I had no idea he had came to Christ. He was never raised a Christian, didn’t go to church, didn’t

have much of a family life at home. He was my friend, we did everything together. He knew I

went to church, I had invited him several times and he came; always indifferent, mostly just to

do whatever after church I think. I never openly ministered to him, yet somewhere along the way

he saw what was going on in my life and thought it was good for him too. At this baptism I was

sitting here listening to it and being super happy for him. This particular church has a tradition

where the person being baptized tells his testimony. He calls me out, saying I was an integral

part in his decision to follow Christ. I didn’t know what to say. It was totally out of the blue and

unexpected. I had no idea what our friendship had done for the kingdom of God. It is proof to me

that you just have to show these good characteristics and answer what odd questions come your

way truthfully and honestly. You have to be transparent and a good friend, show that you love

other people, and they will begin to wonder what is different with you. Eventually, as God works

on their heart; they will recognize you for who you belong to. This is what I intend to do for the

kingdom of God, and I will be that rock in the public school system. Hopefully students, parents,

and colleagues alike will wonder what I have going on. It’s all about relationships.

STUDENTS

A relationship with students is crucial to being an impact in their lives. Johnson says

some generalities in his text book Foundations of American Education about what type of kids

we will come across in our careers as teachers. He says children from rural communities tend to
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be more conservative and children from the suburbs traditionally have been upper-middle class

but are beginning to show signs of rising poverty levels (Johnson 2008). He also says urban

students will be more likely to be rich in entertainment resources, library access, museums, and

theaters (Johnson 2008). Their was a general statement that struck a chord with me particularly.

He says that students with good parenting will be better all around (Johnson 2008). He didn’t go

into details about what was “better” about them, but I’d agree full heartedly. So what does all

this mean. I take this as a prompt to begin getting my mind around the diversity that I’ll face as a

teacher. I cannot hold these generalities too strongly because they are likely to change. I

especially don’t want them to influence how I teach or do not teach because of my preconceived

notions of their capability level. Personally I feel that each individual student will have a

commonality that I can use to help benefit them and spur on my own creativity. Students rarely

know what they can actually achieve. It is important to me to keep them upbeat and positive, but

in the same breath correction and constructive criticism can be painful and necessary parts to

growth. A great method that I’ve used in the past and has been used on me while I was in high

school was slightly unique. You have to start out with them disliking you more than they dislike

each other. This sounds harsh at first, but let me explain.

I have always been in a setting where the rule of “no negative comments” was used. My

mother always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I feel that

by implementing this large and general rule in my classroom most of the vocal problems with put

downs and negative ‘ribbing’ will be taken care of. By removing the outward discord between

peers a door is opened for step two of my unique method of bonding. Step two I finally put my

finger on this past year in Africa when I was leading 42 Junior Marines every day for 13 months.

You have to be hard on them, at least at first. The idea is to make them dislike you to the point
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where they will begin to gang up and bond together against you. I don’t outright intend to do

things that will make my class miserable, but by keeping them dogging in their studies and

pushing their limits they will begin to bond through unified suffering. I know this sounds harsh,

but even looking back through my athletic career I see that my coaches did this as well. We

would still show up, we would still do what was asked, and we grumbled to each other the whole

time, and I formed some of my best friendships that way. I watched amazing friendships form in

Africa through this same thing. My friends and I got through it. My Marines got through it. The

Bible says we should be counted lucky to be worthy of suffering. I don’t know how or why

exactly this phenomenon occurs but it does. A trend that I’ve noticed is that the squads and

platoons that were under my command have always been the tightest knit crews. I’ll have to

think on this more, but when the other nine squads were having fist fight, or the other three

platoons were ratting on each other instead of getting each others backs; my platoon and squads

were always there for each other. Of course we had weird individuals that didn’t quite mesh into

our group, but in each instance there was a group leader that broke out and helped tie them back

in. Students need this cohesion to succeed and I fully intend to foster that amongst their peers. To

further this cohesion I must eliminate favoritism.

The heart of combating favoritism is by being firm and fair. I will be firm and fair when

dealing with all my students. I will not foster wimpyness in my classroom. That’s what firm

means. Students will learn that life is hard and they can navigate through hard things. I will

revert back to my rules that will be set up ahead of time and test my characteristics mentioned

earlier: COURAGE, INTEGRITY, and JUSTICE. I will grade objectively and in order help me

in this I will have them write their names on the back of papers and ensure my assessments have

prewritten grading scales. A struggle I know I’ll have is going to be with my athletes. This may
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require me changing my persona on the field. Athletes and coaches have always had a special

bond, a much closer relationship because you share in their disappointments and you share in

their achievements in very emotional settings. I will struggle with this, and by making

assessments as organized and objective as possible I hope to eliminate most of the favoritism in

my classroom. Even when trying to keep the relationship between myself and my students

professional they will still need to be motivated.

I like the phrase: Teachers must extrinsically motivate their students to be intrinsically

driven. I really believe this is the ultimate end goal for our students. If you can light that fire

under them to where they take it upon themselves to learn and grow, they will be extremely

successful (Damon 2008). A lot of this has to do with helping them find their “Moral North

Star”, which is a fancy way of saying purpose. William Damon published an article in

Educational leadership in 2008 that was about how to build that intrinsic motivation in students

and why many students struggle to buckle down with their studies (Damon 2008). Providing

options and helpful guidance in what a student should, could, and would do is very helpful

(Damon 2008). We need to keep what is interesting to them in the forefront of our mind so as to

effectively engage them (Reiss, 2002/2000). We as teachers can only motivate through extrinsic

methods such as giving letter grades, smiley faces, gold stars, pats on the back, special

privileges, etc… It’s a reward based system in which teachers tantalize students with either the

“carrot or the stick” (Ryan 2008). This can work for awhile, but as soon as these goals are

achieved, apparently become too difficult, or the rewards are removed; the student will stop

trying to grow. We MUST inspire an intrinsic drive that will sustain them the rest of their

lives(Damon 2008, Motivation 2009, Nash 2005, Reiss 2002). This idea of inspiring my students

starts me thinking about the environment I want to foster in my classroom.

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THE CLASSROOM

Classroom environment is an extremely important factor in making a student feel

welcomed, safe, and ready to engage in learning something exciting (Diaz 2006). It can set the

tone for everything else. Just like an author will use environmental conditions to effect a feeling

the story of a novel, so will your decorations effect the mindset of your students. This also

includes rules pertaining to respect, tolerance, physical contact, and how to go about various

monotonous procedures (Diaz 2006).

Some of the procedures that Wong fleshes out in his book about the first days of school

include: seating charts, assignments, taking roll, and establishing discipline (Wong 2009). I will

have a seating chart in my classroom and there are a few things I should keep in mind. Wong

says you need to have this set up by name before class begins (Wong 2009). This will eliminate

the annoying questions as to why one student can’t sit next to his friend and another student can.

Be prepared (Wong 2009). The second procedure that Wong wants us teachers to be consistent

through out the year with is assignments. Have the assignments all posted on the board before

class starts in the same place, in the same manner (Wong 2009). Consistency (Wong 2009). Be

prepared (Wong 2009). Roll call. Wong says three important things about roll call: it should be

done quietly, quickly, and never disturb the class (Wong 2009). An example that his book gave,

which I thought was an incredible idea, was sitting in the back as one student each day gave a

relevant 3 minute speech (Wong 2009). This does everything that Wong suggests about roll call

and it covers material AND it causes the students to take some of their learning into their own

hands! Intrinsic motivation? Yes, I think it might spark some. Wong says that teachers are in

large part classroom managers (Wong 2009). Being organized, consistent, and prepared are great
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ways to establish a beneficial and structured learning environment. Along with the contextual

aspects of your classroom a good teacher leader will have an appropriate aesthetic aspect as well.

When I dream, I dream of what my classroom will look like. I’m the sort of person who

thinks appearances should not be important, but KNOW they are. I like the idea of decorating

and adding stuff to the classroom as the class itself develops. This will be an attempt to help

students unconsciously gage their progress. I like the picture of starting with a blank slate,

having spots that are cleanly prepared and awaiting stuff to be put there. Then as projects are

completed, and topics come up; I can post relevant current information that I know will interest

students because of the relationship I will be developing with them. I especially want to display

colleges and opportunities that deal highly with sciences alongside career ideas that deal with

science. I’d also like a board that contains articles and tidbits that are recent scientific news, a

spot for my athletes, and a spot for other afterschool events that pertain to my specific students.

These last two areas will help me show the loyalty and priority I place on them. The classroom is

what I can control of the larger part of the whole and I should do so with knowledge of how it

will effect my particular students. Schools are the larger part of which I will have little say in at

first.

SCHOOLS

Schools have come a long way in providing education to the masses. There are several

standards used to understand what schools should accomplish and teach as a curriculum. Johnson

says that school systems will blend what employers want from graduates, what current society

wants from graduates, and what the global economy wants from graduates (Johnson 2008).

Employers are looking to hire coherent people to perform a task (Johnson 2008). I would
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propose that schools should focus in three areas that are specific to the students choice. Does that

student want to have a career in a trade? Does that student want to pursue a college degree or a

professional program? Does that student posses those leadership characteristics that might lead

them down a service route such as the military, police, fire/EMT, or other academy/boot camp

based career? I feel these are important questions schools need to continuously prod students

with and ultimately set up themed curricula to facilitate job placement for the individual student

and be as appealing to the employer as possible. These are clinically called “Real-World

Standards” (Johnson 2008). School systems also need to allow for what society thinks students

should know as a generally based set of skills (Johnson 2008). These include reading, writing,

math, some science, American History, and other “Discipline-Based/Content Standards”

(Johnson 2008). Thirdly, Schools have been set up to impart what the “World-Class Standards”

have become (Johnson 2008). These are threefold. The first goal is that all students will have

access to information technology in their classroom, their schools, and their homes (Johnson

2008). The second goal is that all teachers will use technology effectively to help students

achieve high academic standards (Johnson 2008). Lastly in the “World-Class Standards”, all

students will have technology, information, and literary skills (Johnson 2008). These are

certainly very idealistic ideas about what schools should provide. Public schools have a mission

statement that is closely related to the above. They are very concerned with societal norms and

criterion (Johnson 2008). More realistic, and sad, is that schools don’t have the funding nor the

parental reinforcement to propel students to their full potential. Several schools that try to

overcome these set backs through different missions, are Christian and charter schools.

Religious schools, namely Christian ones, are exceptional about blending biblical

concepts with current social norms. Their mission is more geared to a base biblical knowledge,
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which I wish I had and a core set of knowledge. The Christian schools are well known for their

expensive tuition, great teachers, and overbearing religious nature. With everything there are

good points and bad. I do not disagree with Christian schools and how they run the curricula, but

I will send my kids to public schools. I feel that I will be able to spiritually lead my children in

front of God. If a parent feels that they would not be able to do this, then maybe sending them to

a Christian school is an appropriate and responsible action. There is another school that will

teach different from either public or Christian. Charter schools are great ways to open options for

your children’s education.

Charter schools are actually “Secretarian Public Schools” which receive state funding but

operate independently from the regulations that a traditional public school is imposed with (Diaz

2006). Charter schools have many benefits and a mission geared more in student learning by

whatever method is necessary than by a set standard that’s approved by bureaucrats. There are

increased opportunities for learning and access to quality education for all students (Diaz 2006).

They create a choice for parents and students and new opportunities for teachers to experiment

more freely with their education methods (Diaz 2006). Charter schools are exceptional outlets

that encourage community involvement and different approaches to education (Diaz 2006).

Before I heard about charter schools I wanted to teach in the public system.

Now I want to teach in a charter school system. I feel that I’d have a more lenient

curriculum that I could tailor more specifically to the interests and levels of student ability.

Traditionally people talk about charter schools as alternative education schools and I feel there

would be less controversy teaching about evolution and creationism and adding little tidbits from

the bible as a viable source of wisdom. Which would simplify conveying a Christian, scientific

perspective. The two ideas do not coincide nicely in the public eye. If I were to teach in a public
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 23

school system I know I’d have issues teaching biology with the evolution creationism dilemma. I

feel that I have already come to terms with how I would teach this issue in a public school

system, and I don’t think I would alter it for a charter school. I have a strong belief in preparing

the ground for God to work in. I am not responsible for what a student believes. My job lays in

providing the evidence and knowledge about topics and to trust in God that He will use that

information to change their hearts for Him. Teaching about God and His truths does not

necessarily mean being overbearing and untactful. A good teacher leader will know how to

effectively convey his beliefs unobtrusively throughout the curriculum.

CURRICULUM

When I teach the curriculum I am under no assumptions that I’ll be able to teach

whatever I want. I will have to follow a set of criteria that the school district will impose as well

as state legislature. I will however be able to still teach from a Christian perspective. A lot of

what people think make a good person good stem from Christian values, they just aren’t called

religious because that offends people. I believe God is the source of all truth, I feel He is the only

absolute truth that we can know as humans. God created the heavens and the Earth and

everything in it (Genesis 1.1-2.3). God has hand selected me to be a teacher so that I could teach

about His amazing creation. He has crafted me in a way that will allow me to reach children and

inspire excitement in the created world around them. I will take the early scientists approach in

teaching science as a way to know creation. I have full confidence that when I get them excited

about the wonder and complexity of life that God will work on their hearts in the most

unobtrusive way and show Himself through what they study. I just have to be ready with answers

when they come to me with those ‘special’ questions.

 PHILOSPHY PAPER 24

I think absolute truths should be taught in public schools and I feel that you can know

about a creator without knowing it is the creator behind it all. This may seem counter productive

to evangelicals, but if I get myself removed from a school I can no longer be that influence that

slowly chips away the edges of a students soul. An atheistic evolutionist will take my place and

then we will have lost major ground for the Kingdom of Heaven. I am to prepare the ground. I

am to use tact. I am to be a Christian role model so they can see how believers are supposed to

be. I believe I need to leave room for God’s grace and so I will. Part of teaching about absolute

truths is in separating religion and science.

Science was explained to me by Professor Ron Meyers from Cornerstone University as

two different realms. Atheistic scientists believe in total uniformity of natural causes in a closed

system. Which means that everything that has happened on earth is caused by observable

processes, leaving no room for supernatural influences. Theistic scientists would argue for a

limited uniformity of natural causes in an open system. This means that MOST things that have

happened on earth were caused by observable processes, leaving the doors wide open for the

occasional miracle and supernatural cause. So as a Christian scientist I can believe in natural

processes and still believe that God has the power to circumnavigate them as He sees fit. Brian

Holtz agrees with me and published a paper on the web stating the misconceptions many people

have about science being an alternative to religion (Holtz 2005). It just isn’t so (Holtz 2005). We

as teachers need to teach the science and be good Christian mentors and role models. God will

use His divine influence to fill in the Gaps. Specific examples are usually the best way to get this

idea across.

When working through a topic about evolution and creationism in one of my biology

classes I will teach definitions of the verbiage that is used to discuss the evolution/creation
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 25

dilemma. I’ll also focus more intently on the specific icons of the debate. When we are talking

about bacteria and cells and microorganisms, we’ll spend considerable time on the flagellum and

how it is irreducibly complex. I will let them draw their own conclusions as to the ramifications

of this knowledge, but they will know how it’s put together and all the parts and the ins and outs

of it’s anatomy. These are the items that are discussed in this particular debate and I feel it’s

important to have the knowledge to contribute to the conversation in an intelligible manner.

Another example would be in genetics. They will know how when species become more specific

or evolved they actually loose DNA. I’d make a comment along the lines of “Well then how can

there be loss of DNA if natural selection says genes are created?”…”Good question! Why not

everyone write a paragraph as to their thoughts on the subject, that’s your ticket to leave today.”

The whole debate is really quite stupid when you look at the facts and I want them to realize this.

You cannot logically teach a student to create a theory, test it, and adjust it if it is wrong then

show him examples of real scientists who create a theory, test it, and don’t adjust it when it is

proven wrong. Critical thinking will be a huge part with these controversial issues. I want them

to know that one CANNOT know for certain one way or the other… It’s their decision, a leap of

faith. Of course I won’t use that wordage, but I hope you can see how excited I’d get over issues

like this. We will also utilize current articles from periodicals that show how the debate

continues and how valuable continuous learning is.

TEACHING and LEARNING

Continued learning is extremely valuable. You have to keep up with the times, it will

make life far more interesting. I walk through the woods, and I find great joy in knowing that the

thing I made scamper through the brush was a Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel and not a

Chipmunk. Picking out a Spring Peeper from a see of noises in the night is a very neat thing
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 26

indeed. These things put spice into the creation and helps you appreciate God’s work so much

more. I’ll promote this by giving them tidbits that they can readily use and take note of in the real

world. Not to mention the good job you’ll get, being promoted above your peer group because of

your drive to learn more and more as you grow. This certainly helps when impressing the lady’s.

I’ll utilize big projects for integrated curriculum and multiple intelligences. I believe

these are extremely important in achieving engagement with all of the students. Ornstein wrote a

book on the foundations of education and says that in order to achieve learning your

methodology should be student centered curricula (Ornstein 1997). Basically, this means stuff

they are interested in (, Nash 2005 Ornstein 1997). I will mostly teach through lecture, because

of the higher level of learning that upperclassmen need. I intend to use labs and hands on stuff as

much as possible, but these will be accents to the lecture and only for enrichment purposes. My

goal is to have a demonstration everyday, either of the topic at hand or a new topic that we’re

about to study. These will be short and interesting. We are studying the world around us and it

shouldn’t be too difficult to find examples of the subject I wish to teach, biology. Hopefully by

showing them the cool parts of science, blowing stuff up, they’ll be inspired and intrinsically

motivated. I’ll use group work in labs to get them to collaborate as scientists. By varying these

demonstrations and interest areas I’ll be able to reach the maximum number of my students,

100% (Diaz 2006). I feel intangibles are also important to teach while in schools.

Honesty, integrity, and hard work are the cornerstones of education and I could no worse

than to teach them only these. They will learn that it is more important in science to stay true to

your methodology and get the wrong answer than it is to cheat and skip steps and get the correct

answers. I will emphasize showing work and good scientific methods, and lab procedures. I’ll

steal “CFD” from Dr. Fryling, Cornerstone University Professor, which means Correct For Data.
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 27

They will loose some points for getting it wrong, but if they did the work and worked through it

correctly they will receive most of their points. During some of the large projects issues may

arise dealing with controversial content.

I’ll use my own judgment on the student’s creative expression as appropriate or

inappropriate by referring to guidelines set in the assignment. These would include no nudity,

vulgar language, racist comments, violence, etc… It’ll be an open clause, where “I’ll be the

judge of that, and the penalties will be steep.” I don’t foresee much of a problem with this after I

shut off a presentation and dock 50% of their grade and will only give them those points back if

they correct the presentation and resubmit it. I don’t see this being a very big issue if I am

consistent with the discipline of in class discussions. Students will be able to gage me as a

teacher and figure out what they can and cannot get away with. In Armstrong’s Teaching Today:

An introduction to education he cites case no. 403, Bethel School District v. Fraser, 1986 where

the judge ruled “Schools may establish standards of civil and mature conduct.” (Armstrong

2009). Also any time the exertion of one persons first amendment right imposes on another

persons rights or causes unrest or violence, their freedom of expression is no longer

constitutional (Armstrong 2009). For the few individuals who just have to rile against the system

there will be consequences.

DISCIPLINE

The purpose in correcting student misbehavior is to help guide the student in his or her

understanding in what is appropriate and expected of them in society (Ryan 2008). I will hold

them to a higher degree of acceptability in my classroom, and call it professional development as

a disguise for Christian behavior. Again, in my experience, it’s God’s responsibility to knock on
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 28

the child’s heart. I simply show the picture and am there for support and prodding. Before any

disciplinary action can be doled out a set of explicit, clear, concise, and reasonable rules must be

posted and ensured that they are understood (Ryan 2008). Classroom rules are put in place to

provide a basis to refer to. So that everything is on the table from the very beginning. Students

will know exactly what is to be expected of them. As I model this explanation of rules and

procedures, my students will be able to recall how a leader acted in this realm. It is unjust to

punish someone for something they didn’t know they weren’t supposed to do. They will know

right from wrong and what is acceptable. Rules for my classroom will include:

1. Severe point penalties for late assignments

2. Only specific questions will be answered

3. Assignments are due in my box on my desk as soon as you walk in, all others are late

4. No cell phones allowed

5. Emergency bathroom use only, one person at a time; I’ll have a big goofy looking hall

pass

6. Sharpen pencils at will; pencil sharpener is in the back

7. All had written assignments must be in pencil

8. Raise your hand to speak

These are not inclusive, but talking with other teachers these are a spackling of ideas I felt would

be important. Now that students know what I expect of them, they need to be given what

happens when they disappoint me. My disciplinary structure is three fold with a caveat for severe

cases:
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 29

1. Verbal chagrin in front of the class, on the spot. Used to keep the class in line. Everyone

will see that I am firm and fair and that I actually care what the rules are. This is referred

to as the “Ripple Effect” (Ryan 2008).

2. Staying after class for the one on one approach so I can determine if something else is

going on. This will help me determine which stimuli are provoking the behavior and I can

make an effort to remove them (Ryan 2008).

3. The phone call home, or detention. This is dependent on what became of level two. The

phone call home is to both let the parent know what’s going on and to see if there are

issues at home that I need to be concerned with.

4. SEVERE: This could be a dock in grade, suspension. I may have to defer to school policy

here. If it is so bad it may be out of my hands what the consequences are. I would rather

keep them at my level.

These rules I feel are very solid. I followed the same principles while in the service as a

Sergeant of Marines. I found that when you pulled them out of the situation and had a one on one

conversation to figure out what is really going on I got amazing results. You do two things when

you do this. You let them know you care about them and you foster a relationship. As a general

rule I like constructive outlets and think the punishments should fit the crime. If the student was

misbehaving in lab, I can find something in lab for him or her to clean after school. I could also

drag the student out to the field and make them put time in as a team manager, this would allow

me to get closer to the student and help mentor them. It might even get them interested in the

sport and allow for a permanent constructive outlet for the extra energy they feel the need to

share during class. It’s still all about the relationships that a teacher leader should foster with his

or her students.
 PHILOSPHY PAPER 30

CONLUSION

Being a teacher leader is a powerful calling that effects every aspect of how I teach and

what I believe about schools, the curricula, disciplining, and the all important relation that a

teacher cultivates with his students. As we unpacked what a teacher leader was, I hope many

aspects jive with your life and with your perspective of what exactly we are accomplishing as we

mold the next generation of teacher leaders. I hope you strive be a person of excellent character

and hope you understand how important your influence is. The whole philosophy of being a

teacher leader deals with being a person of great character and having a solid stance in God.

Remember what Solomon writes in Proverbs 22.6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and

when he is old he will not turn from it.” This is quite the calling. We will have a lasting influence

on those that come into our classrooms, we must do right by them.

 PHILOSPHY PAPER 31

References

Armstrong, D.G., Henson, K.J., & Savage, T.V. (2009). Teaching Today: An introduction to

education (8th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson plc.

The Bible.

Damon, W. (October 2008). The Moral North Star. Educational Leadership, 66, 2, 8-12.

Diaz, C.F., Pelletier, C.M., & Provenzo Jr., E.F. (2006). Touch the Future… Teach! Boston, MA:

Pearson Education, Inc.

Holtz. B., (July 2005). Human Knowledge: Foundations and limits. Human Knowledge.net.

Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://humanknowledge.net/Thoughts.html

Johnson, J.A., Musial, D., Hall, G.E., Gollnick, D.M., & Dupuis, V.L. (2008). Foundations of

American Education: Perspectives on education in a changing world (14th Edition).

Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Motivation. (April 2009). Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, retrieved April 6, 2009, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/motivation.

Nash, S.S. (July 2005). Learning Objects and Motivation Theories. Xplanazine, the Future of

Education. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.xplanazine.com/2005/07/learning-

objectis-and-motivation-theories.

Ornstein, A.C. & Levine, D.U. (1997). Foundations of Education (6th Edition). Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Reiss, S. (March 2002). Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate our Actions and Define

our Personalities. Berkley: Berkley Trade.

Reiss, S. (June 2000). New Theory of Motivation lists 16 basic desires that quide us. Ohio State

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http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whoami/html.

Ryan, K., Cooper, J.M., & Taur, S. (2008). Teaching for Student Learning: Becoming a master

teacher. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Sharp, SGT. (May 2001). Fundamentals of Marine Corps Leadership. [PowerPoint slides].

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Sturkey, M.F. (2001). Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines. Heritage Press International.

United States Marine Corps. (1989). Fundamentals of Marine Corps Leadership. Marine

Barracks in Quantico, VA: Marine Corps Institute.

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R.T. (2009). The First Days of School: How to be an effective teacher.

Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.