Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The One Answer to All Questions in Education

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Just so you're not hanging in suspense: "The answer to all questions in education keeps pointing me back to one thing; leadership." Well, no. Even the examples George Couros  uses in this article don't point to that conclusion. What we see are cases where the administrator tries to help the underling instead of supervising them. Couros calls this 'leadership' but the correct word is 'service'. The leader's first words should be "let me help you succeed." Where this begins to fail is when the leader begins to define what 'success' looks like, and begins to work against success as defined by the underling. Now the underling needs to be 'educated', 'motivated' and 'transformed'. The underling is expected to provide the service, for the benefit of the leader. That, too, is 'leadership' and is the model actually rewarded in the workplace. So, no, not 'leadership'. Service.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 23, 2024 5:57 p.m.

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