Leadership is one of those words that means a lot of different things to different people. Even within the field of educational leadership, I find the terms transformational leadership, transactional leadership, servant leadership, pedagogical leadership, charismatic leadership, authentic leadership, participative and task-oriented leadership. On a bad day I find myself on the brink of asthmatic leadership, so sometimes struggle to see all the subtleties here.
Fortunately, for our students things are a little clearer. I see them developing into people who influence others, to improve their own situation and the situations of others. All five aspects of our Learning Programme, in one way or another, contribute to that. Having the understandings to know what to work towards, the soft-skills to go about persuading others, and the courage and resilience to see things hrough when the going gets tough – if they can do that, then that’s leadership as far as I am concerned.
A lot of leadership development therefore happens quietly on a daily basis, out of sight. But many aspects of the school have a big student input, from the student-led Global Concerns projects to the student-hosted assemblies. The Head of College, Heads of Campus, Principals, Vice-Principals, Heads of Grade, Heads of Department and classroom teachers – all of us have to be invited by HS students to speak at whole HS assemblies; all of us have to petition the relevant student body for Global Concern funds. These are small, arguably symbolic things, but symbols speak volumes about the way we want students to adopt leadership positions. Perhaps the most public manifestation of student leadership, though, is the Student Council. Elections for this body, which serves the school community in a number of ways (perhaps veering toward service leadership here), are coming up over the next few weeks, and students from grades 9 – 11 wishing to stand must persuade their peers of their contribution.
Fear of impeachment for breaking impartiality laws prevents me saying much here, though I cannot resist observing that student councils in most schools get sidetracked into relatively unimportant issues like lunches and uniforms. This is a time for for students to consider what leadership means, what influence means, and the proper role of students in a school. It may be that your daughter wishes to stand for election; if so, have the conversation with her – what does she stand for? What does she hope to contribute? Does she have specific significant issues to use as a platform? If so, how will she persuade others to support her? Equally important, if your son does not wish to stand, have that conversation with him – what does he want in his council? What issues does he think needs addressing? How can he use his vote to further what he sees as the right thing? Can he raise concerns with the candidates?
Student elections should not be popularity contests anymore than national ones; they are a valuable opportunity for individuals and the school to move forward. Over the course of hotly contested student hustings (I am not sure we will use soapboxes in the sun) I hope to see both perspirational and inspirational leadership.
