nurturing servant leaders in religious education - Scholarly ...

share that night she remembered and then she applied it and taught it as
well…That’s why I love going to work in the morning because I teach and I help
people get from point A in their education to point B where they can go out and
get a job. And it’s the same when I teach here for institute. This knowledge that I
teach they go out and reapply and it’s knowledge that touches their lives and
benefits them forever. I think that’s the most rewarding gift that you can have
from being a teacher, or a servant leader. And that’s what Christ wants us to learn
as well is those principles that He’s already been through (VT5).
Relationships of informal/formal leadership
Another strong trend that emerged from volunteer teacher focus groups was the ability
for participants to recognise their leadership. Being a servant leader outside of the
CES classroom did not always mean leadership opportunities came in expected ways.
One participant indicated that seizing the moment when leadership was needed was an
important part of being a true servant leader. Leaders were happy to be leaders, but
the formation of friendships first was also felt to be a key to their success as leaders.
The first experience that came to mind was walking home with one of the Youth. I
was his advisor in the Young Men’s and we were walking, bouncing the ball, just
talking, having a few laughs on the way home. We got to my house and my fence
and he just said he wanted to talk to me. And basically he said he was talking to
me as a member in the quorum. And he was looking at me as an advisor, and he
was asking for my counsel, for my help. To that point I figured what we’d been is,
we’d been friends. And I thought maybe, that’s how I thought it was. I thought it
should always be that way. Rather than him seeing me as a teacher, as a leader,
let’s be friends. How I always figured, you know, everything should be. But there
are times when you have to become a leader…Otherwise you’re just ha ha ha, he,
he, he, but when it’s serious, when something’s happening, will they be able to
turn to you, not only as a friend, but also as a leader? And that night he turned to
me as a leader. And when he told me what he was going through, I realised I
quickly had to be that leader for him. And he wanted some advice and counsel as
to what he had to do. I gave him the counsel that night that I felt was the right
thing to do…In a classroom we do have between two to twenty-nine thirty
students. True servant leaders will step out of their teacher mode and into every
single one of their lives. (VT4) does this with his mission prep class. He does
know them by name. He knows them for their weaknesses, he also knows them
for their strengths. True leaders step outside their circle and address those
weaknesses. Don’t just sit back and know those weaknesses, but he addresses
them by talking to them, by helping them understand that in order to have that
weakness removed through this, he becomes that leader…And that’s what I think
true servant leadership is about. Not just being in the classroom, but when they’re
in need they tend to it, because they basically are under their stewardship. I think
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