What is leadership’s relationship to education? -- My response

In April of my first year teaching a student commented, "Remember last year when I didn't like you and wouldn't do the work?" I think it's fair to say I was a terrible classroom leader my first semester. The student who remembered not doing work had been part of a group walkout protesting my class, one of my low points as a teacher.

Looking back to diagnose what went wrong, I suspect a large part of my leadership failure was due to a clash of cultures. I set-up my classroom to make me a formal leader, but I was entering a culture that has a history of only following decisions as long as the group agreed with them. I entered with an attitude of knowing what we needed to achieve that year, but my students came from a culture that listens to everyone before taking action. The trappings of leadership that I knew were not the leadership my students recognized.

I improved as a teacher-leader.  I listened to the elders and began to internalize the values of my community. I tried to incorporate the values into my teaching. I'm not sure it can be taught, but I am proof it can be learned. My proof? The students who walked out of my class in the fall came in for extra tutoring in the spring.