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 Exploring
the Many Facets of Leadership in Students
by Ann
Kolodji
Leadership
among the youth in our schools takes
many forms. Schools are increasingly
placing more stock in developing leadership
skills among students. A variety of
leadership programs have been developed
across the K-12 spectrum. These programs
adopt the perspective that leadership
serves as a positive force in the lives
of children and adolescents. This altruistic
approach to leadership can incorporate
many of the core character building
traits discussed in our schools: citizenship,
caring, fairness, trustworthiness, respect,
and responsibility. A supportive student
leader will ideally reflect these character
traits, and help inspire other students
to follow in his or her footsteps. The
concept of leadership, however, doesn't
make these character assumptions and
is in fact rather neutral by definition.
Although definitions of leadership are
debatable, they typically refer to abstract
notions of influence and power.
As educators,
we observe leadership developing in
our students on a regular basis. The
challenge for us remains directing leadership
in ways that support the healthy growth
and development of our students. Watching
unscripted moments of leadership is
always fascinating, regardless of students'
ages. I remember quietly observing a
five-year old girl in kindergarten round
up her friends to explain they were
"not going to talk to Stephanie
today." I was in awe as I watched
the four other girls solemnly nod their
heads and proceed to follow this directive.
I also observed two eighth graders in
an afterschool program loudly proclaim
to their peers that they were angry
after seeing someone throw a soda bottle
from a car onto the field next to the
school. "There's garbage all over
the field. We should clean it up. We
should go out and clean it up now!"
So, as a group we gathered up garbage
bags and proceeded to clean up the field.
Witnessing these spontaneous and unstructured
moments of leadership can be an eye-opening
and fascinating experience for educators.
The
Role of Peer Influence
Some might
argue that the above examples illustrate
peer influence and not leadership. I
suggest the distinctions between the
two are few; in addition, experience
and research related to peer influence
can help to clarify our understanding
of leadership. Recent research has explored
negative aspects of "aversive
leadership" by examining the
dissatisfied perceptions of individuals
expected to follow these leaders (Bligh,
M. et al., 2007). Other research
reports that elementary school children
claim to follow "popular peers,"
people they rated as having social power
and influence. The ironic aspect to
this is the "followers" acknowledge
that a subset of these students viewed
as popular and as leaders are also disliked
by a majority of students.
Children
labeled as "followers" recognize
some of the behaviors of their leaders
are socially undesirable, but continue
to maintain an association with them
to gain referent
power (Lease
& Kennedy, 2002). The challenge
for us as educators is to unravel these
negative and potentially damaging dynamics
concerning leadership and peer influence.
Research has consistently shown the
impact peers have on unhealthy decisions
young people make about a variety of
issues including drug use, sexual activity,
and other risky behaviors. Morrongiello
and Sedore (2005) found the presence
of an unknown observing peer led to
greater risk taking behaviors. The role
of social
desirability is critical in the
lives of young people and greatly impacts
their health-related decisions.
The
Development of Self-Efficacy and Other
Key Life Skills
One way to
manage the challenge of social desirability
and negative peer influences is to promote
the development of life skills in students.
Along with leadership, self-efficacy
is another concept that has been examined
in depth with respect to health and
schools. Self-efficacy is a powerful
life skill students can cultivate in
themselves, along with school leadership
programs promoting it as a significant
aspect of leadership development. Self-efficacy
is the belief a person has in their
ability to accomplish a particular task.
People with self-efficacy feel they
have control over their environment
and can make an impact on their lives
and the lives of others. The eighth
graders who believed they could have
a positive impact on cleaning up garbage
around their school illustrated the
power of self-efficacy and the role
it plays in leadership.
By taking
self-efficacy to another level we can
incorporate the perspectives of a Brazilian
educator, Paulo Freire, who suggested
"conscientization"
is a liberating development of education
when students engage in democratic change
to transform their community. As educators
we can take our knowledge about the
powerful role of peer influence, and
use it in advantageous ways to further
positive leadership skills and healthy
learning. For example, peer education
programs continue to demonstrate strong
effects in young people's development.
These peer-led leadership programs revolve
around numerous health issues in schools,
from bullying to alcohol use, to support
young people learning from each other
in democratic and supportive ways.
A variety
of other life skills are beneficial
in leadership development; one that
I don't think receives much attention
is the seemingly simple skill of caring.
Martinek, Schilling and Hellison (2006)
offer a compelling illustration of how
compassion plays a critical role in
leadership for young people. The authors
examine stages of leadership, and how
young people's progression through the
stages corresponds to their moral development
and their sense of compassion and concern
for others. Helping students develop
a deeper appreciation for caring can
alleviate some of the negative influences
peers have on each other's behaviors.
A focus on compassion can also help
young people emerge from the egocentrism
of youth by reaching out and supporting
each other in democratic ways, and thus
preventing aversive leadership and abuses
of power. Leadership development, whether
explicitly taught in established programs,
or implicitly incorporated into existing
curricula, can use a variety of life
skills as a framework to support character
building and healthy peer interaction.
Definitions
of Life Skills for Healthy Growth and
Development
Caring: Demonstrating
compassion and sensitivity to the needs
of others
Communication: Ability
to communicate effectively in a variety
of different situations
Conscientization/Advocacy:
Making a difference; democratic participation
in the community
Creativity: Using
uniqueness and imagination to express
yourself
Decision-Making: Empowering
yourself to weigh consequences and make
responsible and healthy decisions
Emotional Intelligence:
Knowing what you are feeling, recognizing
emotions in others; impulse control
Goal Setting: Setting
goals in life with a sense of purpose
for the future; recognizing the process
of reaching goals
Humor: Finding humor
in life challenges, both the mundane
and tragic
Media Literacy/Analyzing Influences:
Critiquing the impact of societal
influences such as media, peers and
family
Proactivity: Taking
responsibility for oneself life; acting
independently with initiative
Self-Efficacy: Believing
that you can make an impact; a sense
of control over your environment
Self-Reflection: Critical
self-awareness and examination of personal
values, feelings and ideas
Social/Cultural Competence:
Appreciation of social and cultural
identities; awareness of privilege and
discrimination
References
Bligh, M., Kohles,
J., Pearce, C., Justin, J., & Stovall,
J. (2007). When the romance is over:
Follower perspectives of aversive leadership.
Applied
Psychology: An International Review,
56(4), 528-557.
Lease, A.M.
& Kennedy, C.A. (2002). Children’s
social constructions of popularity.
Social
Development
11(1), 87-109.
Martinek, T.,
Schilling, T., & Hellison, D. (2006).
The development of compassionate and
caring leadership among adolescents.
Physical
Education and Sport Pedagogy,
11(2), 141-157.
Morrongiello,
B.A. & Sedore, L. (2005). The influence
of child attributes and social-situational
context on school-age children’s
risk taking behaviors that can lead
to injury. Applied
Developmental Psychology, 26,
347-361.
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