Are you a manager or a leader in your classroom?

*Originally posted on my previous blog www.mrbowkerinmalaysia.com in March 2021*

I caught an exert of a podcast in the car a few days ago. In it, a business expert was explaining the difference between what it means to be a leader and what it means to be a manager. He was also discussing the pros and cons of each depending on the situation. A company like Apple had a visionary leader in Steve Jobs and people followed him, but he was also famous for having a meticulous eye for detail and a hands on approach to product design in more of a managerial style. This idea of leaders and managers raises certain questions such as; Can one be a successful leader without also managing the details and vice versa? If you can choose your approach, which one is better?

This business topic and these questions instantly struck a chord with me in terms of being a teacher in a classroom. Do I want to manage the class or lead them?Can I just do one or do I need to do both? Which is better?

The traits of managers and leaders are often separated in the kind of fashion seen in the table below. Many of the lists I have come across purposefully diminish and criticise managers in favour of leaders. For example 'Managers rule through fear and leaders inspire through respect'. I do not agree with this. The roles are different and different skills are required - depending on the situation both may be needed and may both be equally of value. The challenge is to work out which to be and when.

Managers	Leaders
Focus on aims and objectives	Focus on visions, ideals and people
Organise	Influence
Tell how and when	Empower independence
Monitor	Trust
Give answers	Ask questions
Share their knowledge	Seek knowledge from others
Copy successful approaches	Search for their own successful approach
Reflect to see what's going well	Reflect to see what can be done better
Maintain the status quo	Develop the status quo
Are consistent	Are flexible
Find problems	Find solutions
Autocratic	Democratic

Take a moment and think which of these sound like your classroom on a daily basis.

Are there any aspects of this list that you would like to include, but currently overlook? Equally do you find yourself doing too much of one thing and would like to do it differently? How do these approaches affect the classroom?

I imagine the answer to these questions and the answer to what your classroom looks like will have a lot to do with your teaching philosophy; particularly whether you follow a more traditional approach to teaching or a modern enquiry based methodology. For my part, I see the benefits of both depending on circumstance, and that is likely reflected in the tone of this post.

For me, on first inspection, it appears having a balance of both would be appropriate.

At times the classroom needs managing, especially during tasks that support and structure the learning in a clear fashion towards the learning objective. It would also be remiss not to monitor pupils' learning and simply trust that they are learning. Anyone who has worked with children will also know how important it is to be consistent with expectations and routines, reflect on what has gone well and praise accordingly.

However, in a pupil-centered classroom, having an autocratic manager teaching and controlling the learning in a rigid way all the time would be quite inappropriate.

The role of a teacher in this environment is to enable and empower the pupils in the way a leader would. Deliberately delegating responsibility to the pupils for the routines and learning in the classroom. Asking questions rather than telling answers is also key to this approach, further, as all learners are different, then it is also vital to be flexible. In addition, the focus on life long learning in teaching also directs teachers to self develop and innovate, as leaders would rather than as managers.

Perhaps choosing a leadership style over managing the details is more your methodology, or maybe you see your role in the classroom as more of a manager of the learning tasks? Perhaps you also see a balance of both, as I do. I'm certainly in no position to judge, but I do think however we choose to lead or manage our classrooms there are questions to be asked, and it is worth pausing to consider what we do, and why, in more detail. For example;

- By deliberately managing tasks, are teachers limiting the ability of the pupils to work independently and manage their own learning?

- Alternatively, by directing focus on ideals and visions would the pupils be overburdened and overloaded in their ability to manage their own learning? Particularly with reference to cognitive load theory.

- How much and how accurately will pupils learn if teachers only ask questions and never tell answers?

An important aspect when considering these kinds of questions and the idea of leading or managing as a whole is in areas where there are options, or a sliding scale, such as;

-How much do tasks need managing, and how much can the pupils be inspired to work based on class visions?

- Just how democratic can a classroom be?

- How much control can we hand over to our pupils?

- How much trust should we have that pupils are following through with tasks and how much should we monitor them?

- What areas of the status quo are worth maintaining and which need developing?

- What successful approaches can we copy from others and which should we develop ourselves?

I am not raising these questions to answer them definitively myself. At the moment I do not have the answers, and I imagine the answers will be different depending on the personality of the teacher and the age, stage and setting of the class. But I willcontinue to consider these aspects when I ask myself the question; Do I want to be a manager or a leader in my classroom. Or more accurately; Will it benefit my pupils more if I manage them or lead them?

The start of any kind of self development always starts with a question, and for me this is the one I will be considering go forward. I hope by reading this article you may also do the same.

If you have any insights or opinions on this topic I'd love to hear them and so please do comment below.

Thanks for reading.

Laurence