Teaching for Transformation, Not Transaction

I’m deeply grateful to be a practitioner-scholar—someone who has the privilege of building businesses, serving clients through LDR Leadership, and learning alongside people who have served this country with honor. My roots run deep in the world of trade workers, vocational training, and practical know-how. My father used to say, “I’m from Missouri, and Missouri is the Show Me state.” That stuck with me. I’ve built my philosophy around that idea—learning by doing, showing, trying, failing, trying again. Eat, sleep, dream, implement.

When I teach, I’m not here to perform or preach. I’m here to facilitate. I believe learning is co-created. It’s shaped by conversation—between students, between peers, with AI, with real businesses, and across real life experiences. The value is in the room, not just in the syllabus. And my job is to draw it out.

This isn’t about prepping for a job interview or chasing some abstract title. This is about leadership—in action and in many forms. Because finding meaningful work is a leadership activity. So is starting a business, navigating family life, or showing up for your community. We approach all of this step by step, pragmatically, and through lived experience. Because that’s how real leaders are made—the same way the best musicians master their craft. They don’t just study the notes. They play them, over and over again. That’s what we’re doing here. Practicing leadership—not just in theory, but in motion.

A Moment I’ll Never Forget

Yesterday in class, we were discussing international operations, and I casually asked what barriers someone might face if they wanted to build a pool for a hotel in the Bahamas. I assumed we’d get a few surface-level responses. Instead, one student took a breath and delivered a two-minute breakdown that sounded like it came from a seasoned contractor.

He covered permitting, building codes, subcontractor reliability, supply chain issues, government red tape, even local resentment toward foreign firms. When I asked how he knew all that, he simply said, “I read a lot. I listen to business podcasts.”

That answer floored me—not because it was surprising that he knew it, but because of how genuinely grateful he was that someone finally asked. That someone finally listened. You could see it in his face—he felt seen. Valued. Useful.

It was like the hundreds of hours he’d spent learning outside of school finally had a home. That moment reminded me why I teach the way I do. Not to give answers. But to make space.

The Classroom as a Learning Community

As C. Roland Christensen put it, a discussion-based class “is a partnership in which students and instructor share the responsibilities and power of teaching, and the privilege of learning together.” This isn’t just theory for me—it’s practice.

In my classrooms—whether at Miami Dade College, inside correctional facilities, or leading executives in co-op boardrooms—the goal is always the same: to build community. To let diverse voices shape the agenda. To let uncertainty be a guide, not a weakness.

Our job as educators is to model leadership, not just teach it. That means humility. That means asking good questions. That means creating a space where someone’s background—whether they’re a pool builder, a podcast listener, or a single mom working two jobs—matters.

From Facilitation to Formation

This work is not about me. It’s about them. My students. Their stories. Their families. Their hustle. I’m just the facilitator of the room. AI may help me organize ideas or surface content, but the meaning—the real learning—comes from the people present.

Christensen wrote, “Discussion teaching is the art of managing spontaneity.” That’s exactly what we do. We help students see themselves as decision-makers, leaders, contributors—not just consumers of content.

And yes, it’s harder. It’s messy. It takes more energy and more emotional investment. But it’s worth it every time someone like that student yesterday finally realizes their knowledge matters.

A Call to My Fellow Educators

To every educator reading this: please consider the impact of what you’re doing. We are not delivering lectures. We are not grading performance. We are shaping people.

My life is full—I’m a husband, father, son, brother, business owner, and professor. But in every role, the core remains: I’m a listener, a contributor, and a decision facilitator. And I believe with every fiber that classrooms can be sacred spaces for transformation.

Let’s stop teaching at students. Let’s start teaching with them.

Let’s help the dreamers, doers, and implementers find their seat at the table.

Let’s help them become leaders, managers and innovators in all walks of life.

Works Referenced

• C. Roland Christensen, Teaching and the Case Method: Premises and Practices
• Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms. Jossey-Bass.
• Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Harvard University Press.

For more reflections and interviews, visit DeemedEssential.org and ClaudeKershner.com