Teachers as Leaders: Understanding the Impact a Teacher may have on Students’ Lives

Teachers understandably think of themselves as instructors in their subject areas. There is intensifying pressure to teach students to pass state and federal mandated subject area achievement tests. Successful teachers are those who succeed at the task of improving student learning. But teachers can also play a very important role as leaders and role models for their students. A component of the Real Life Issue Prevention CI methodology is to provide examples and theory of the role of teachers as leaders, a role they will carry out as they engage their students in prevention CI. Teachers are encouraged to recognize and make use of their capacity to positively influence student decision making. The project website (www.neiu.edu/~k12pac/) will provide excerpts from resources and citations on this important topic.