Building Leadership From the Student's Perspective
Stephen F. Fusco - Post 4
The literature regarding student leadership is deep and ever-developing. It is very easy to find many theoretical works that discuss leadership and many of them look at it from a researcher's perspective or a theoretical perspective. While there is inherent value in this approach, it looks at leadership from a top down approach and considers what is in the school's and child's best interest from the perspective of the leader. In looking at culturally responsive pedagogy, including the voice of the child in the decision-making process and the discourse is critical. I recently read an article where a 5th Grade elementary school participated in a "leadership day." The leadership day included activities centered around open discussions regarding leadership decisions, student work designed to elicit responses from the children regarding leadership, and performance art centered around bullying. This is a very novel concept and it highlights a creative way to integrate culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom.
The article raised some questions for me regarding the lack of student involvement from a leadership perspective. First, while there are some great leadership theories that stress the importance of student involvement and student input, I don't often see those types of activities happening within schools. Second, I think there is a perception (I have no proof for this...) that students can't handle this type of responsibility when it comes to discussions of leadership. I completely disagree with this statement and I think more leaders should be transparent with students and teachers. While 100% transparency is not necessarily what I am advocating, a higher level of transparency is needed. As each of us decides what type of leader we want to become, we must consider how we involve our students in the process and discourse regarding leadership.
As I began to do some internet searching, I found several different articles that highlight some of the ways to include students in the leadership process.
1. http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/student-leaders - This provides an excellent example of using students to model effective leadership in the classroom. By allowing students to serve as "leaders for the day" or developing a student society, students learn more about leadership.
2. http://www.westtown.edu/page.cfm?p=726 - This school incorporates leadership with social conscious activities such as recycling programs. This is a good way to build social development and teach leadership.
The literature regarding student leadership is deep and ever-developing. It is very easy to find many theoretical works that discuss leadership and many of them look at it from a researcher's perspective or a theoretical perspective. While there is inherent value in this approach, it looks at leadership from a top down approach and considers what is in the school's and child's best interest from the perspective of the leader. In looking at culturally responsive pedagogy, including the voice of the child in the decision-making process and the discourse is critical. I recently read an article where a 5th Grade elementary school participated in a "leadership day." The leadership day included activities centered around open discussions regarding leadership decisions, student work designed to elicit responses from the children regarding leadership, and performance art centered around bullying. This is a very novel concept and it highlights a creative way to integrate culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom.
The article raised some questions for me regarding the lack of student involvement from a leadership perspective. First, while there are some great leadership theories that stress the importance of student involvement and student input, I don't often see those types of activities happening within schools. Second, I think there is a perception (I have no proof for this...) that students can't handle this type of responsibility when it comes to discussions of leadership. I completely disagree with this statement and I think more leaders should be transparent with students and teachers. While 100% transparency is not necessarily what I am advocating, a higher level of transparency is needed. As each of us decides what type of leader we want to become, we must consider how we involve our students in the process and discourse regarding leadership.
As I began to do some internet searching, I found several different articles that highlight some of the ways to include students in the leadership process.
1. http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/student-leaders - This provides an excellent example of using students to model effective leadership in the classroom. By allowing students to serve as "leaders for the day" or developing a student society, students learn more about leadership.
2. http://www.westtown.edu/page.cfm?p=726 - This school incorporates leadership with social conscious activities such as recycling programs. This is a good way to build social development and teach leadership.
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