LEADERSHIP AND COOePERATION
=The Real Leader.=--Real leadership is a scarce and choice article; true
leaders are few and far between. The best kind of leader is not one who
attempts to be at the head of every movement and to do everything
himself, but rather he who makes the greatest number of people active in
his cause. It frequently happens that the more a leader does himself,
the less his followers are inclined to do. The more active he is, the
more passive they are likely to become. As teaching is causing others to
know and react educationally, so genuine leadership is causing others to
become active in the direction of the leader's purpose, or aim. Some who
pose as leaders seek to be conspicuous in every movement, merely to
attract attention to themselves. They bid for direct and immediate
recognition instead of being content with the more remote, indirect, but
truer and more substantial reward of recognition through their followers
who are active in their leader's cause. The poor leader does not think
that there is glory enough for all, and so he monopolizes all he can of
it, leaving the remainder to those who probably do the greater part of
the work and deserve as much credit as he. The spectacular football
player who ignores the team and team work, in order to attract attention
by his individual plays, is not the best leader or the best player. The
real leader will frequently be content to see things somewhat poorly
done or not so well done, in order that his followers may pass through
the experience of doing them. It is only by having such experiences that
followers are enabled, in turn, to become leaders.
=Teaching vs. Telling.=--As has been shown in an earlier chapter, the
lack of leadership is frequently exhibited in the classroom when the
teacher, instead of inducing self-activity and self-expression on the
part of the pupils, proceeds to recite the whole lesson himself. He asks
leading questions and then, at the slightest hesitation on the part of a
pupil, he suggests the answer; he asks another leading question from
another point of view; he puts words into the mouth of the pupil who is
trying in a pitiable way to recite; and ends by covering the topic all
over with words, words, words of his own. This is poor leadership on the
part of the teacher and gives no opportunity for real cooperation on the
part of the pupils. The teacher takes all the glory of reciting, and
leaves the pupil without an opportunity or the reward of
self-expression.
=Enlisting the Cooeperation of Pupils.=--All children--and in fact all
people--if approached or stimulated in the proper way--like to _do_
things, to perform services for others. A pupil always considers it a
compliment to be asked by his teacher to do something for him, if the
relations between the teacher and pupil are normal and cordial. This
must, of course, be the case if any truly educative response is to be
elicited. Socrates once said that a person cannot learn from one whom he
does not love. The relation between pupil and teacher should be one of
mutual love and respect, if the educational process is to obtain. If
this relation does not exist, the first duty of the teacher is to bring
it about. Sometimes this is difficult. I once heard a teacher say that
it took him about three weeks to establish this relation between himself
and one of his pupils. He finally invited the pupil out hunting with him
one Saturday, and after that they were the best of friends. The pupil
became one of the leaders in his school and his cooperation was secured
from that time forward. In this instance the teacher showed marked
leadership as well as practical knowledge of psychology and pedagogy.
Francis Murphy, the great temperance orator, understood both leadership
and cooperation, for he always, as he said, made it a point to approach
a man from the "south side."
A pupil, if approached in the right way, will do anything in his power
for his teacher. There may be times when wood or fuel must be provided,
when the room must be swept and cleaned, when little repairs become
necessary, or an errand must be performed. In such situations, if the
teacher is a real leader and if his school and he are _en rapport_,
volunteers will vie with each other for the privilege of carrying out
the teacher's wishes. This would indicate genuine leadership and
cooperation.
=Placing Responsibility.=--Whether in school or some other station in
life, there is scarcely anything that so awakens and develops the best
that is in either man or child as the placing of responsibility. Every
person is educated and made greater according to the measure of
responsibility that is given to him and that he is able to live up to.
While it is true that too great a measure of responsibility might be
given, this is no reasonable excuse for withholding it altogether for
fear the burden would be too great. There is a wide middle ground
between no responsibility and too much of it, and it is in this field
that leadership and cooperation can be displayed to much advantage. The
greater danger lies in not giving sufficient responsibility to children
and youths. It is well known that, in parts of our country, where men
who have been proved to be, or are strongly suspected of being crooked,
have been placed upon the bench to mete out justice, they have usually
risen to the occasion and to their better ideals, and have not betrayed
the trust reposed in them, or the responsibility placed upon them. There
is probably no finer body of men in America than our railroad
engineers; and while it may be true that they are _picked_ in a
measure, it is also true that their responsible positions and work bring
out their best manhood. As they sit or stand at the throttle, with hand
upon the lever and eyes on the lookout for danger, and as they feel the
heart-throbs of their engine drawing its precious freight of a thousand
souls through the darkness and the storm, they cannot help realizing
that this is real life invested with great responsibilities; and with
this thought ever before them, they become men who can be trusted
anywhere. There is little doubt that Abraham Lincoln's mettle was
tempered to the finest quality in the fires of the great struggle from
1860 to 1865, when every hour of his waking days was fraught with the
greatest responsibility.
=How People Remain Children.=--If children and young people are not
given responsibilities they are likely to remain children. The old
adage, "Don't send a boy to mill," is thoroughly vicious if applied
beyond a narrow and youthful range. In some neighborhoods the fathers
even when of an advanced age retain entire control of the farm and of
all activities, and the younger generation are called the "boys," and,
what is worse, are considered such till forty years of age or older--in
fact as long as the fathers live and are active. A "boy" is called
"Johnnie," "Jimmie," or "Tommie," and is never chosen to do jury duty or
to occupy any position connected in the local public mind with a man's
work. The father in such cases is not a good leader, for he has given
no responsibility to, and receives no genuine cooperation from, his
sons, who are really man grown, but who are regarded, even by
themselves, from habit and suggestion, as children. If these middle-aged
men should move to another part of the country they would be compelled
to stand upon their own feet, and would be regarded as men among men.
They would be called _Mr._ Jones, _Mr._ Smith, and _Mr._ Brown, instead
of diminutive and pet names; and, what is better, they would regard
themselves as men. This would be a wholesome and stimulating suggestion.
Hence Horace Greeley's advice to young men, to "Go West," would prove
beneficial in more ways than one.
This state of affairs is illustrated on a large scale by the Chinese
life and civilization. From time immemorial the Chinese have been taught
to regard themselves as children, and the emperor as the common father
of all. The head of the family is the head as long as he lives and all
his descendants are mere sons and daughters. When he dies he is the
object of worship. This custom has tended to influence in a large
measure the thought and life of China and to keep the Chinese, for
untold generations, a childlike and respectful people. Whatever may come
to pass under the new regime, recently established in their country,
they have been, since the dawn of history, a passive people, the
majority of whom have not been honored with any great measure of
responsibility.
=On the Farm.=--Such lessons from history, written large, are as
applicable in rural life as elsewhere. Cooeperation and profit-sharing
are probably the key to the solution of the labor problem. Many
industrial leaders in various lines, notably Mr. Henry Ford in his
automobile factories in Detroit, have come to the conclusion that
cooperation, or some kind of profit-sharing by the rank and file of the
workers, is of mutual benefit to employer and laborer. The interest of
workers must be enlisted for their own good as well as for the good of
society at large. It induces the right attitude toward work on the part
of the worker, and the right attitude of employer and employee toward
each other. This leads to the solidarity of society and the integrity of
the social bond. It tends to establish harmony and to bring contentment
to both parties.
=Renters.=--The renter of a farm must have sufficient interest in it and
in all its activities to improve it in every respect, rather than to
allow it to deteriorate by getting out of it everything possible, and
then leaving it, like a squeezed orange, to repeat the operation
elsewhere. A farm, in order to yield its best and to increase in
production and value, must be managed with care, foresight, and
scientific understanding. There must be, among other things, a careful
rotation of crops and the rearing of good breeds of animals of various
kinds. But these things cannot be intrusted to the mere renter or the
hired man who is nothing more. These are not sufficiently interested.
The man who successfully manages a farm must be interested in it and in
its various phases, whether he be a renter or a worker. He must be
careful, watchful, industrious, intelligent, and a lover of domestic
animals; otherwise the farm will go backward and the stock will not
thrive and be productive of profits. The man who drives a farm to a
successful issue must be a leader, and, if he is not the owner, he must
cooperate with the owner in order that there may be interest, which is
the great essential.
=The Owner.=--If the farm is operated by the owner himself and his
family, there is still greater need of leadership on the part of the
father and of cooperation on the part of all. Money and profits are not
the only motives or the only results and rewards that come to a family
in rural life. As the children grow up to adult life, both boys and
girls, for their own education and development in leadership and in
cooperation, should be given some share in the business, some interest
which they can call their own, and whose success and increase will
depend on their attention, care, and industry. That father is a wise
leader who can enlist the active cooperation of all his family for the
good of each and of all. Such leadership and cooperation are the best
forms and means of education, and lead inevitably to good citizenship.
How often do we see a grasping, churlish father whose leadership is
maintained by fear and force and whose family fade away, one by one, as
they come to adolescence. There is no cementing force in such a
household, and the centrifugal forces which take the place of true
leadership and cordial cooperation soon do their work.
=The Teacher as a Leader.=--We have already spoken of the teacher as the
natural leader of the activities of a social center, or of a community.
In such situations the teacher should be a real leader, not one who
wishes or attempts to be the direct and actual leader in every activity,
but one "who gets things done" through the secondary leadership of a
score or more of men, boys, and girls. The leader in a consolidated
district, or social center, who should attempt to bring all the glory
upon himself by immediate leadership would be like the teacher who
insists on doing all the reciting for his pupils. That would be a false
and short-lived leadership. Hence the teacher who is a true leader will
keep himself somewhat in the background while, at the same time, he is
the hidden mainspring, the power behind the throne. "It is the highest
art to conceal art." Fitch, in his lectures on teaching, says that the
teacher and the leader should "keep the machinery in the background."
The teacher should start things going by suggestion and keep them going
by his presence, his attitude, and his silent participation.
Too much participation and direction are fatal to the active cooperation
and secondary leadership of others. Hence the teacher will bring about,
in his own good time and way, the organization of a baseball team under
the direction of a captain chosen by the boys. The choice, it is true,
may probably be inspired by the teacher. The same would take place in
regard to every game, sport, or activity, mental, social, or physical,
in the community. The danger always is that the initial leader may
become too dominant. It is hard on flesh and blood to resist the
temptation to be lionized. But it is incomparably better to have partial
or almost total failures under self-government than to be governed by a
benevolent and beneficent autocrat. And so it is much better that boys
and girls work out their own salvation under leaders of their own
choice, than to be told to organize, and to do thus and so. It requires
a rare power of self-control in a real leader to be compelled to witness
only partial success and crude performance under secondary leaders
groping toward success, and still be silent and patient. But this is the
true process of education--self-activity and self-government.
=Self-activity and Self-government.=--In order to develop initiative,
which is the same thing, practically, as leadership, opportunity must be
given for free self-activity. Children and adults alike, if they are to
grow, must be induced to _do_. It is always better to go ahead and
blunder than to stand still for fear of blundering. Many kind mothers
fondly wish--and frequently attempt to enforce their wish--that
children should learn how to swim without going into the water.
Children see the folly of this and, in order not to disturb the calm and
peace of the household, slip away to a neighboring creek or
swimming-hole, for which they ever after retain the most cherished
memories. In later years when all danger is over these grown-up children
smilingly and jokingly reveal the mysteries of the trick! Children
cannot learn to climb trees without climbing trees, or to ride calves
and colts without the real animals. Some chances must be taken by
parents and guardians, and more chances are usually taken by children
than their guardians ever hear of. Accidents will happen, it is true,
but in the wise provision of Mother Nature the world moves on through
these persistent and instinctive self-activities.
Self-activity is manifested on a larger scale in society and among
nations and peoples. Civilization is brought about through self-activity
and cooperation. It were better for the Filipinos to civilize themselves
as much as possible than that we impose civilization upon them. It is
better that Mexico bring peace into her own household, than that we take
the leadership and enforce order among her people. When the Irish
captain said to his soldiers, "If you don't obey willingly I'll make you
obey willingly," he fused into one the military and the truly civic and
educational conceptions. An individual or a nation must energize from
within outward in order to truly express itself and thus develop in the
best sense. Hence in any community the development of self-expression,
self-activity, and cooperation under true leadership is conducive to the
highest type of individuality and of citizenship.
=Taking Laws upon One's Self.=--It is under proper leadership and
cooperation that children and young people are induced to take laws upon
themselves. It is always a joy to a parent or a teacher when a pupil
expresses himself with some emotion to the effect that such and such a
deed is an "outrage," or "fine" as the case may be. It is an indication
that he has adopted a life principle which he means to live by, and that
it has been made his own to such an extent that he expresses and commits
himself upon it with such feeling. Moralization consists in just this
process--the taking upon one's self of a bundle of good life principles.
Under the right kind of leadership and cooperation this moralizing
process grows most satisfactorily. Children then take upon themselves
laws and become self-governing and law-abiding.
=An Educational Column.=--One of the best means of creating an
atmosphere and spirit of education and culture in a community is to
conduct an "educational column" in the local newspaper. The teacher as a
real leader in the community could furnish the matter for such a column
once every two weeks or once a month, and, before long, if he is the
leader we speak of, the people will begin to look eagerly for this
column; they will turn to it first on receiving their paper. Here items
of interest on almost any subject might be discussed. The column need
not be limited narrowly to technically educational topics. The author of
such a column could thus create and build up in a community the right
kind of traditions and a good spirit, tone, and temper generally. His
influence would be potent outside the schoolroom and he would have in
his power the shaping and the guiding of the social, or community mind.
It is wonderful what can be done in this way by a prudent, intelligent,
and interesting writer. The community soon will wish, after the column
has been read through, that he had written more. This would be an
encouraging sign.
=All Along the Educational Line.=--The kind of leadership and
cooperation indicated in this chapter should be exemplified through the
entire common-school system. It should obtain between the state
superintendent and the county superintendents; between the county
superintendents and their deputies, or assistants on the one hand and
the principals of schools on the other; between principals and teachers;
and between teachers and pupils. It should exist between all of these
officials and the people variously organized for social and educational
betterment. Then there would be a "long pull, a strong pull, and a pull
all together" for the solution of the problems of rural life and the
rural school.