Your values are revealed by your behaviours.
If you value learning, you will continually update your skills and acquire new knowledge. Your behaviour reveals to the world that you truly value learning.
Similarly, it’s actions that show whether teachers (and schools) value student leadership. Giving lip service and making motherhood statements about the importance of developing student leadership is easy.
It’s another, more admirable thing to back up the fact that you value student leadership with real action.
The following five actions demonstrate commitment to real student leadership.
1. RECOGNISE leadership.
A discussion question in a student leadership workshop I conduct with teachers reveals a great deal: “What does good leadership look like in children and young people?”
The question generates plenty of thinking and discussion, as it should. If a teacher doesn’t recognise good leadership, they can’t develop it.
The Young Leaders Program makes this easy for teachers by providing a practical, research-based leadership framework that facilitates recognition.
Teamwork is one part of the framework, so small actions such as encouraging others, sharing and including others in a game are leadership acts to focus on and nurture.
While micro behaviours make great leadership, you must know which leadership behaviours to develop in students.
2. ACKNOWLEDGE Leadership.
As every teacher knows, the student behaviours they focus on expand. Those they ignore or pay little heed to will disappear.
Want more leadership?
Then start acknowledging more leadership behaviours from students. Not just those who you deem as likely leaders.
Acknowledge leadership from every student in your class or school. That means you need to tune your antenna to leadership. It takes commitment and effort, but the results make it worthwhile.
3. TEACH leadership.
Half a century ago (yes, that long ago), I was elected captain of my primary school’s (AFL) football team. It was a big deal as football was a high-status activity, with many premiership pennants hanging on the school office walls to prove it.
Unfortunately, I had no idea how to be a leader apart from playing as well as I could. There was no job description or explanation about how I should be a good captain. I wasn’t taught about leadership in class.
To say I was poorly prepared is an understatement.
Fast-forward five decades, and I hope that if I were elected captain of the football team now, I would know what a good leader does because I’d been taught about leadership. I’d also like to think I could recognise good leadership in others so I would know who to model myself after.
Teachers and schools that value leadership teach students about leadership in class through engaging activities, as well as before and after student elections.
4. DEVELOP leadership.
Some leaders are born, but most are developed. Even if a child is a natural leader, just as a diamond in the rough needs polishing, they must have their skills honed to reach their full potential.
Expose kids to activities that require them to take responsibility for others, show initiative and solve problems.
Projects, acts of service and captaincy roles provide the bulk of the leadership opportunities in many schools, but there are plenty of other ways to develop leadership skills. Mentoring, using leadership language and exposing kids to great leaders are just some of the ways that schools value leadership.
Students also need assistance and opportunities to reflect on, review, and refine their leadership capacities so that leadership in school becomes a growth activity. That’s why journaling is pivotal to the Young Leaders Program.
Leadership development is not a one-off event but a continuous process.
5. SUPPORT leaders.
Leadership is an emotional journey for students. Most kids struggle when they’re poorly prepared for leadership.
More parents than I care to mention have shared stories of kids spending sleepless nights worrying about a talk they have to give, a project they have to lead, or challenging students they must work with as leaders.
Student leaders can easily feel out of their depth, which makes ongoing support an essential part of a leadership program. There are many ways to support student leaders, including mentoring.
The Young Leaders Program has designed a mentoring program that teachers use to support students on their leadership journey and ensure their time as leaders is a growth experience.
FINALLY…………
As a passionate supporter of developing agency in kids, I’ve loved seeing student leadership development grow in primary schools over the last decade.
However, in addition to bringing leadership to the fore, it’s essential to establish systems that will allow real leadership to flourish in classrooms, playgrounds, and the community.
Teachers and schools that truly value student leadership put resources and programs in place for its development.
TWO things you should know.
1. I’ll help you get started. I’m so serious about helping you develop your student leaders that I’ll help you get started. To overcome any obstacles and challenges, you will receive a bonus self-initiated 60-minute online meeting with me when you purchase our Premium Plus Program Pack. This exclusive offer is only available until the end of August. Find out more.
2. Subscribe to Parenting Toolbox for a weekly parenting masterclass. It’s free.