Leadership and Values in Language Education - Al Akhawayn ...

34Proceedings of the 27 th MATE Annual Conferenceknowledge or wielders of power (Benson and Voller, 1997:20) but they use theirleadership and authority to support learners’ growth (Chaibi, 2003).Empowering learnersConsciousness-raising strategiesOne might argue that one of the toughest places where to exert leadership are thecrowded, at times cramped classrooms. Certainly, cramped and overloadedclasses might affect the quality of our teaching, but it seems that this is the placewhere we need to initiate change. Many ways are used in leadership schools tohelp students become leaders. Teachers are, for example, advised to raisestudents’ consciousness to leaders’ qualities urging them to try to make use ofthem in class and beyond. Here are some of these qualities:• be democratic;• be tolerant;• be accountable to the group;• avoid competition for grade or rate (i.e. power, status, or recognition);• delegate power to peers in the management of learning and coordinationof the group;• communicate their vision and thought clearly;• draw other students to assiduously work towards preset goals;• demonstrate a willingness to be supportive of others;• give their peers the confidence they need;• value their peers’ work;• avoid feeling of fear and intimidation;• learn to encourage and make full use of their talents and the talents ofothers to meet the objectives.Tasks for leadership in the classroomIn order for teachers to help learners as potential leaders, they need to createopportunities to decentralize and redistribute “authority” in the EFL classroom.The following tips are a set of tips of great importance to teachers of English inMorocco:1. Go for more Interactive activities. These “lower the filter” in theclassroom (Krashen 1980), and hand over responsibility to students. So,there is a need for group work activities, information gap activities,simulation, role-play, discussion, and debating. These activitiespresuppose the presence of leaders.