Leadership for Teenagers Curiculum

Chapter One – Becoming a Leader: What does it take? – Unit One Goals and Objectives •

Identify the importance of both recognizable and obscure leaders, past and present

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Identify the importance of establishing a purpose

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Demonstrate knowledge of different leadership styles and the skills important to each

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Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different leadership styles

Reading and Comprehension Checkpoints: These questions are designed to help you facilitate discussion based on student reading assignments.

The answers are included.

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Q: What are the six key areas that make up the foundation for effective leadership?

A: communication, respect, vision, teamwork, ethics, critical and creative thinking

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Q: How do authoritarian leaders lead?

A: exercise complete control, command from the top, give direct orders

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Q: How do empowering leaders lead?

A: give followers free reign, empower followers to take charge

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Q: How do democratic leaders lead?

A: spend time communicating with followers, listening to input from team members, build coalitions to make joint decisions

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Leadership for Teenagers

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Powerful Coaching Questions for Chapter Review: Use to initiate discussion after the chapter is read and activities from the book are completed.

1. You read about Cyrus the Great and the rights he believed all humans should be granted.

Do you believe there should be basic rights for all human beings?

2. If so, what are these rights?

3. If not, why not? Should some people have rights and not others?

4. Who should be in charge of deciding what rights, if any, all humans should be granted?

5. Who should be responsible for enforcing these rights?

6. What does this discussion about human rights have to do with students in your school?

7. What conclusions can you draw about how leaders in your school, your community and beyond think humans should be treated based on how they act?

Journal Topics: Below are topics from Leadership for Teenagers to be used for student journaling. The objective here is for the students to write as freely and openly as possible, while still paying attention to punctuation, grammar, and style.

1. The text opens describing several young leaders taking initiative to make a difference in their worlds. What are some ideas that you have for taking initiative and making a difference in your own life? What initiatives seem possible and within reach? Which ideas seem outlandish and impossible? How can you make these ideas a reality?

2. Using the list of extraordinary leaders in different fields, summarize what you think are the key qualities that each leader possessed that helped him or her become successful.

What obstacles did he or she have to overcome? How were these obstacles similar or different from the challenges you face?

3. Think about your favorite teachers inside and outside the classroom from elementary school until now. What qualities did you most admire in these teachers? What can you say about their leadership styles? How did these qualities and leadership styles help them be effective leaders in the classroom?

4. Did the results of your leadership strengths and weakness analysis surprise you? How do you think the results of your analysis might change if you took it again in a year, five years, or even ten years? What is one goal you are willing to commit to right now for improving one area of weakness?

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Leadership for Teenagers

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EXPLORATORY Activities: These activities can be used for cursory exploration and to expand upon chapter content.

1. Quote Activity Benefits: • Shares perspectives on leadership from important leaders • Gives students insight into their own leadership preferences Format: Kinesthetic discussion Materials Needed: Quotes from Handout #1 - Leadership Quotes Preparation: Print each quote on a piece of paper in a large font. Post each quote in different areas around the classroom.

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Ask students to move around the room and read each quote.

Once students have read every quote, ask them to stand beside the quote that resonates with their own beliefs about leadership.

Have each group of people standing under the same quote discuss why they chose the quote they did, and then present what they come up with to the class.

Optional: For the rest of the week, whenever the class breaks into groups, have these be the collaborative groups.

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Leadership for Teenagers

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2. Leadership Collage Benefits: • Gives students a chance to visualize their individual definitions of leadership Format: Arts and crafts + discussion Materials Needed: Magazines and newspapers, glue, scissors, paper • • • • •

A few days before this activity, ask students to collect magazines and newspapers and bring them to class.

Each student will make a collage of words and pictures that symbolize his or her individual definition of leadership.

Each student will present their work to the class. Before the presenter speaks, ask the class to independently write down their initial thoughts about the picture.

Then have the presenter explain his or her reasoning behind the piece.

Finally, discuss the differences and similarities between the class’s initial impressions versus the presenter’s explanation, and what the collages taught the class about each person.

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RIGOR AND RELEVANCE Activities: These activities encourage students to further explore textbook concepts while allowing for more in-depth classroom discussion.

1. Wheel Activity Benefits: • Provides a deeper understanding of the results of the leadership style assessment Format: Kinesthetic activity Materials Needed: Open floor space, tape Preparation: In an open space, create a leadership wheel (from p. 17) with tape on the floor. Outside each wedge, spell out Ethics, Communication, Respect, Vision, Critical and Creative Thinking, and Teamwork.

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After the class has taken the leadership assessment quiz, bring them all to the tape wheel.

First, ask the students to stand in the wedge where they scored the highest. Ask each group of students to discuss their strengths related to the wedge they are standing in with their fellow wedge-mates. Do they have similar opinions and viewpoints about element of leadership?

If time permits, have each student share their perspectives with the entire group.

Then, direct the students to stand in the wedge where they scored the lowest. Repeat the discussion, this time sharing why wedge-mates think they scored lowest in this area.

Lastly, ask students to reflect on when they’ve used their strengths and how they might improve their weaknesses.

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Leadership for Teenagers

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2. Leadership Challenge Benefits: • Gives students an opportunity to try out different leadership styles and work on a team Format: Creative, kinesthetic activity Materials Needed: Index cards; Provide for each group a pack of straws, some newspaper, 20 toothpicks, 1 rubber ball, 1 roll of tape, deck of cards, 1 paper towel tube and an egg Preparation: Write the following conditions onto index cards → You cannot speak. → You cannot hear (provide large earphones to cover the ear if possible). → You must only use one hand. → You cannot touch any of the materials. → You cannot see (provide blindfold). → You are the only person in your group who can use the tape. → You can only speak in questions.

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Divide the class into groups of four and assign each group a leadership style (democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire). → Assign a leader for the autocratic group, let the democratic group pick a leader, and have the laissez-faire group work without a designated leader. → Each teammate then draws one of the index cards from a hat. Everyone must follow that direction for the rest of the activity.

Give each group the materials listed above. Each group has seven minutes to use the materials to create a tower that supports the egg.

After seven minutes pass, tell the students to step away from their towers. The group with the tallest tower that supports the egg securely wins a prize.

Following the activity, lead a discussion based on these questions: 1. How did the assigned conditions limit your ability to get the job done? How did they help at times? → Autocratic: how did you respond to being told what to do? → Democratic: how did you pick an efficient leader? → Laissez-faire: how did your group fair without a designated leader?

2. How did the assigned conditions limit your ability to get the job done?

3. How did you as leaders and teammates work to overcome the assigned challenges?

4. How do you think a leader might overcome similar challenges in the real world?

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Leadership for Teenagers

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GLOBAL CHALLENGE Activities: These activities are designed for Gifted and Talented students and students who need more of a challenge and would like to develop a global perspective.

1. Styles of Leadership Benefits: • Provides insight into different styles of leadership • Helps students learn about governing methods around the world Format: Pair activity Materials Needed: Handout #2 - Styles of Leadership Worksheet, internet access •

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Divide the class into pairs and pass a handout to each group. Assign a country to each group or allow the groups to pick. Some sample countries include: → Cuba → China → Belgium → The Democratic Republic of Congo → Sri Lanka → France → New Zealand → Peru → Ireland Groups will research how their country is governed and fill out the handout.

At the end of the activity, groups will present the governing system of their country to the class and discuss how effective they believe it to be. Have them suggest what changes they would make if they were governing the country.

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WRITING FOR CONCEPTUAL THINKING Read the following Aesop Fable.

The Ant and the Grasshopper On a warm summer day with the sun high in the sky, a grasshopper came upon a hardworking ant who busily prepared for winter by carrying heavy kernels of corn to his anthill.

The grasshopper, who was much more interested in singing and hopping, wondered why the ant was working so hard. “It’s summertime, come play with me!” he called. But the ant refused, saying there was too much work to be done. The grasshopper laughed. “Silly ant!” he said, and then continued on his merry way not worrying about the coming season.

After the winter’s first snowfall, the grasshopper found himself cold and starving while the ant and his colony were well stocked with grains and stores of food. The grasshopper had no other choice but to beg the ant for food to eat.

Is the ant a leader? Why or why not? Should the ant give food to the grasshopper? How does the fable relate to leadership?

Now write your own fable that describes an element of leadership. Share your writing with the class.

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Leadership for Teenagers

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