Servant Teaching: An Exploration of Teacher Servant Leadership on Student Outcomes

Abstract

Servant leadership is an approach to leadership that embraces the opportunity for the leader to lead in service to the follower. This approach to leadership puts the goals, needs, and development of “followers” ahead of those of the leader. This approach to leadership applied to classroom contexts serves as a great opportunity to improve education by positively impacting student learning, development, and deepening the student-centeredness of instruction. This paper examines the veracity of a servant approach to teaching by exploring its impacts on student learning, engagement, and motivation.