The Teachers Are the Bridge – Let’s Train Them TooBy

By Dr. Catherine Goodall Jackson

When we talk about preparing students for leadership, we often focus on curriculum, technology, or extracurricular programs. But we often forget the most influential leadership developers in a young person’s life: teachers.

Educators are not just transmitters of knowledge, they are architects of identity, mirrors of confidence, and models of behavior. In every lesson plan, classroom interaction, and moment of correction, teachers are shaping how students will one day lead.

The truth is, it’s harder to develop student leaders without first empowering teacher-leaders.

Beyond what’s written on a syllabus, there’s another curriculum always in session, the set of behaviors, beliefs, and values that students absorb from how teachers lead themselves and interact with others.

Think about it:

• A teacher who encourages questions - fosters curiosity.

• A teacher who models calm during chaos - teaches emotional regulation.

• A teacher who admits mistakes - fosters a culture of accountability, humility and growth.

Leadership is not just taught, it’s caught. And students are watching.

While most teacher training programs focus on pedagogy and content delivery, few deeply invest in the emotional intelligence, coaching skills, and leadership behaviors needed to shape today’s students into tomorrow’s changemakers.

This is where train-the-trainer models come in. By equipping teachers with tools to understand personality differences in students, facilitate values-based conversations, and encourage self-awareness and critical reflection, we move from instruction to transformation.

Teachers who coach, not just correct, build classrooms where leadership is developed daily.

What if every lesson wasn’t just about meeting a standard, but about nurturing a leader?

What if teachers were trained to:

• Integrate leadership principles into everyday subjects,

• Use conflict moments as coaching opportunities,

• Create safe spaces for student voice, identity, and confidence?

When we equip teachers with leadership literacy, we build a culture where every child can see themselves as capable of leading, with empathy, strategy, and heart.

In many Caribbean schools, teachers carry the weight of being surrogate parents, mentors, counselors, and disciplinarians. Imagine what would be possible if we formally empowered them also to be leadership mentors, trained to cultivate the soft skills that our systems have historically neglected.

As an educator, this isn’t about adding more to their plate. It’s about reframing their role and giving them the tools and support to become more effective in developing future leaders.

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