by Ronald Claiborne

Created on: July 14, 2009

Students have seven intelligences linguistic, mathematical /logical, visual/spatial, musical, bodily/physical, inter-personal, and intra-personal, through which they learn that require teachers to form a relationship with the student to determine the best method to use in teaching (Rose, 1995). Learning occurs best when a student is in an atmosphere conducive to learning and that means one that is free from antagonistic personalities. Teacher's behavior is vital in securing the cooperation of students in the learning process. It is the teacher's responsibility to unlock the potential inside each student and this becomes possible only if the teacher is able to tap into the student's style of learning.

One approach teachers can use in developing the teacher-student relationship is through the application of Greenleaf's servant leadership principles (Hays, 2008). Although the ideas of the servant leadership principles and the relation to education may seem idealistic and larger than life to some the applications of such principles can have a tremendous impact on the success of students in the classroom (Hays, 2008).

The servant leadership principles include listening, empathy, healing, persuasion, awareness, foresight, conceptualizing, commitment to growth, stewardship and community (Hays, 2008). In many ways the best teachers already employ many of these principles in his or her teaching strategy with a modicum of success, but think how much more successful these strategies can and will become if the teachers can match them to the style in which children naturally process information. Teaching children requires the teacher to develop a relationship with that child to promote an interest in learning.

Listening is one half of all communication processes but it is a skill that is not taught in schools nor is considered something that must be targeted such as math, science and reading skills. When teachers take the time to listen to the children they teach the student's will begin telling them how they learn. Listening with an open mind both the student and the teacher opens the door to better understanding of capabilities and shortcomings that may be present in the learning situation.

When teachers take the time to listen to the students it must be done in an unbiased manner with an open heart (Hays, 2008). This helps the teacher to use empathy in building a relationship with the student. Empathy according to Hays (2008)

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