Student Leadership

Leadership

What does leadership look like?  The question may seem short, perhaps simple, but leadership is very complex.  In schools, leadership takes many forms, but one the most powerful forms of leadership is often neglected or not thought about very often unless things are going badly.  I am talking about student leadership.

This morning I observed a powerful example of student leadership in action on the playground.  The top picture shows all of the grade 7/8 girls practicing their volleyball skills.  These girls have been doing this for several days.  They are quietly minding their own business and the girls were not really aware of what was taking place elsewhere on the playground.  However, slightly off to their side, the second picture illustrated what was occurring as parallel play.  Five younger students were engaging in the same activity as the older students.  This was the first time that I observed the younger students modeling this activity.

I walked up to the girls and asked if they could spot leadership in action by looking around the playground.  Several were mystified by my question, but at least one mentioned the parallel volleyball activity.  I reminded the girls that as older students they are always being watched by the younger students and that those younger students will model the older students’ actions, whether they are good or bad.  I thanked the girls for their positive leadership and their positive modelling of play to the younger students.  I reminded the grade 7/8 girls to never forget that others are watching and modeling their behaviour.  This is a huge responsibility because we need to see positive leadership and role models and stamp out negative leadership.

Meanwhile the grade 7/8 boys were actively engaged in a great game of baseball, where they demonstrated the same positive leadership as their female peers.  No younger students were modelling their game today; however, a couple weeks ago, you would have spotted the younger boys also engaged in a great baseball game on a parallel diamond.

I am thankful for our older students.

Take some time to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for our student leaders for their positive leadership and pray that they may not fall into the temptation to use their leadership in a negative way.