4. Teachers Encouraging Leadership

Student apathy is a challenge. I frequently read articles in which teachers complain that students are complacent and disinterested in topics of study and school in general. Some students see no reason to get an education if they can become rich as influencers or athletes. Why read a book if they can watch the movie or play the game?

Teachers can be the bridge that connects (some) students with a meaningful education that is not characterized by threats and tests. With a cooperative administration, teachers have extraordinary powers in developing student leaders, whether through curriculum, classroom management, or Student Life/mentoring programs.

In elementary and middle school classrooms, teachers can set up formal structures such as rotating student chores so that students feel invested in their classroom while developing character and integrity. This structure can include a rotating student leader who collects and returns work and checks on students, for example, with opportunities to reinforce honesty and responsibility, show other students compassion, and allow them to shine. Within the curriculum, students may be assigned group projects that may adhere strictly or loosely to Project-Based-Learning (PBL) guidelines. Each group may have a leader who guides the other students in choosing their contributions and setting up check-ins. No matter the set-up, the teacher monitors and provides feedback and suggestions so that students learn, and things run smoothly.      

When I taught, I had a few opportunities to observe and contribute to creating teen leaders. I used to teach at a private South Korean high school whose existence and purpose was to create “global leaders,” and I noticed a stark difference between those students and our American public high school students regarding leadership. We expected those Korean students to take the initiative, and they did—not without adult guidance, of course. If, for example, students wanted to create a new club or activity, they wrote the charter, found a teacher to facilitate it, created a budget and schedule, and submitted the charter to administration for approval. While we may have made suggestions, teachers and administrators did not create activities for students. As a result, those students participated in activities they were interested and invested in, and they ran the activities.  

At one point, my Korean students wanted to have a language and culture festival, which is a big undertaking, but it was also an opportunity for developing their leadership skills, among several other skills. With a little guidance in strategic planning, the students created committees, goals, budgets, needed resources, people to contact, and timelines. They brought in community members for demonstrations and called embassies and consulates in Seoul, speaking in the appropriate languages when possible. A few things did not work out as they had hoped, but overall, the festival was a complete success. The students practiced persistence, resilience, courage, generosity, empathy, responsibility, trustworthiness, inspiration, problem-solving, and selflessness. They took the initiative, they collaborated, and the student leaders encouraged all students to use their unique skills to contribute to the overall success of the project. They blew me away! 

Contrast that festival experience with the way musicals were produced at the US public high school my own children attended. Their high school had a well-deserved reputation for putting on fantastic musicals and concerts. Truly, there was amazing musical talent in that community, among the adults, high school, middle school, and elementary-aged students. The problem as I saw it was that the parent volunteers and school employees did most of the behind-the-scenes work that allowed students to shine on stage. I believe that when adults do work that students can do, it implies that the students are not capable. Why didn’t the students create and build the scenes and props? Why didn’t they design and sew costumes? How about marketing and advertising? Printed materials? Why weren’t the students involved in the budget and choosing the musical? Imagine the leadership and business skills they could have developed.

Some US high schools are better at developing leadership skills, but they are generally private/independent schools with Student Life departments and mentoring programs. At one independent school where I taught, my students wanted to take a trip to a Spanish-speaking country—another huge undertaking. Since the focus of that school was PBL, I turned the trip into a project for the students who were interested. Together, we created a list of goals for the trip and topics to research before deciding on which country to visit and other logistics. The students who were interested in going on the trip were motivated to divide the tasks and report back. They were excited to participate; I did not need to push them to do their research. Eventually they narrowed down the countries and voted. I provided them with vetted options for language classes, activities, homestays, and volunteer opportunities in their chosen country. After they investigated those options and chose, I set up the transportation, chaperones, and some of the activities. We went on the trip and had a great time! The students participated in trip activities that they researched and chose. Those students learned so many things before we even left the US, plus what they learned while traveling and staying in the foreign country. Besides taking the initiative, they practiced courage, generosity, compassion, persistence, empathy, resilience, responsibility, trustworthiness, and selflessness. The biggest obstacle for this trip and for the previously mentioned festival was school administration. They balked at allowing students to lead. They did not want to cede control to students, even guided by a teacher who was a parent and an experienced traveler. We must overcome this cultural obstacle in the US and encourage our teenagers to lead because they can. Imagine what our future could be like if it were filled with leaders of character who take the initiative and collaborate to successfully complete projects that they value.

Besides management structures and group projects that develop leadership, teachers and other adults can mentor students on an individual basis. One of my strongest students and a student leader in the school was one of my mentees. She came to me one afternoon, totally stressed because she had spread herself too thin. We talked about delegating some of her tasks. Her concept of leadership had not included delegating. She thought that she had to do all of the work. We talked about how it would not only help her but also provide opportunities for other students to shine if they contributed even in small ways. She needed to oversee things and was ultimately responsible, but she did delegate some tasks, became less overwhelmed, and the other students rose to the occasion. She learned that effective leaders involve others. (I would point out that the way I suggested delegation to her might not work with all teens; with another student, it might be necessary to gently guide her into thinking that delegating was her idea.) 

In a different private high school, I had a lovely, funny, popular student in one of my Spanish classes who presented an opportunity to me. She was not a strong student in my class and often distracted us with her humor, but she was enthusiastic and charismatic, she participated, and her fellow classmates loved her. I repeatedly suggested that she use her personality to take on more of a leadership role in class because it would help her and the other students. She gradually responded by becoming more focused, speaking Spanish non-stop, taking the lead in group work and skits, and basically becoming a role model. Her Spanish and her grades improved, and the other students began to participate more. (An unexpected benefit was that she made my job easier, and she liked me more because I empowered her!) She learned to use her personality to influence people in a positive way. She modeled courage, persistence, resilience, responsibility, and inspiration, and she helped others to reach their potentials. That’s leadership!

I grant that teaching in general is nearly impossible these days, but teaching leadership to our students—even in public schools—does not need to be a daunting task. Oftentimes, it actually lightens teachers’ loads and provides the spark that motivates some students. I believe that good teaching is not about adults running the show—whether that means teachers talking during most of class or administrators who assert their authority by creating and enforcing rules. It’s about the kids. Many times opportunities present themselves, and teachers only need to run with them.