Preparing Year 10 Boarding Students for their Leadership Journey

Lesa Fowler

Head of Boarding

PREPARING Year 10 Boarding Students

for their LEADERSHIP JOURNEY

Adolescence is a time of great opportunity, learning and discovery. Every child has the capacity for resilience, the ability to thrive in the face of adversity (Damon 2004) and the ability to lead; it is up to us as adults to provide more opportunities for them to experience personal growth. As the girls learn about leadership, it is most important for adults to role model and partner with them, facilitating the opportunity to learn both what they want and do not want to be (Ricketts & Rudd 2002). Therefore, by providing the girls with examples of different leadership styles, and opportunities to develop their skills and grow, they will be better prepared to become leaders in the future. Developing skills in leadership is a process. Therefore, the St Margaret's boarding house has developed a leadership program for Year 10 boarders that will commence in Semester 2, Year 10, and run through to the end of Semester 1, Year 11. The leadership program has a highly intentional focus on student learning and is outcome based. In encouraging the Year 10 girls to be involved, discussions need to be held

regarding the misconceptions they have about leaders. A large part of these misunderstandings arises from false pretences about what kind of students become leaders. Some will be reluctant, doubt their abilities, or not want the responsibility, while others may have put minimal thought into leadership and what it means. The program therefore needs to be focused on building the girls’ leadership skills and them recognising their potential to lead. It is important to create an understanding that, just like intelligence, leadership is a characteristic which can be built and developed and not simply something some students are born with and others are not (Fertman & Long 1990). Leadership development needs to foster a culture of empowerment and development in the boarding house. Within the boarding house, the leadership framework is focused on each individual and is built on the girls owning their leadership journey. The framework starts by asking three main questions:

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1. What are your values/strengths and how do they guide you as a leader? This requires the girls to focus on themselves and what they see as important in a leader. Individual development is a reflective and connected process of understanding who one is in the world. Through self appraisal and interaction with others, the girls will become more socially and emotionally aware. 2. How will your actions positively contribute to the lives of your peers? This requires the girls to focus their attention on others, an integral part of collegial leadership comprised of compassion and self-awareness. Community involvement enables the girls to develop skills integral to respectful interpersonal relationships and a sense of belonging through the modelling of integrity, honesty, fairness and inclusivity. 3. How could you enhance the quality of the boarding house and the community at large? Social justice is a key component, for the girls will demonstrate care through the development of cultural competence, an exploration of personal identity, and a willingness to understand and respect other experiences. This is designed to empower the girls to connect with a sense of loyalty to both the boarding house and the school. It is hoped that this will develop a deeper sense of belonging and connection amongst the community. In order to provide the best opportunity for the development of student leaders, adult engagement and partnership will play a critical role in nurturing the progress of the girls’ leadership skills. There needs to be an openness which will allow the girls a degree of autonomy while still retaining support. To gain exposure to different leadership styles, they will be rostered with different housemothers to watch, observe and connect with the girls in younger years. Adult encouragement is vital to a success of this program; staff must be willing to participate and provide feedback – both positive and negative. Girls need to watch and learn how successful different leaderships styles are, which will aide them in developing their own sense of what type of leader they want to be. Being a leader can often be a challenging and sometimes unpopular job, particularly in a boarding situation where you live together. Being aware of your strengths and having the courage to deploy self-compassion may help students maintain resilience in the face of challenges and to be kind to themselves when mistakes occur. Displaying self-compassion can be particularly challenging in adolescence. During this time, the brain is programmed to be more self-centred and attuned to the thoughts and acceptance of others. Adolescents often lack an understanding of common humanity and fall into the ‘personal fable’, believing their problems are unique, and unable to be understood (Lapsley, FitzGerald, Rice & Jackson 1989). Adolescents also put themselves through personal and peer scrutiny, believing they are always being watched and evaluated. We must therefore develop their capabilities in dealing with peer influence and direct them towards strengths in the area of teamwork. Leadership training will focus deeply on developing connections and how this can positively influence their leadership, a particularly important asset in the boarding environment. Strong interpersonal relations have been shown to influence not just wellbeing, but motivation, engagement, and achievement in students (Martin & Dowson 2009). This relationship-based training will enable them to establish a tone of care and support for the school year. Building connections can protect young people from loneliness while creating opportunities for them to feel valued, which in turn builds a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Time will be spent focusing on how we develop positive relationships with all girls at all different ages, and discussions will entail the importance of involving every individual. We are blessed to have a diverse student body in the boarding house, and part of the leadership program will focus on understanding different cultural backgrounds. Questioning their own biases and talking about this is integral to the development of leadership skills. Living with a variety of cultures, backgrounds and upbringings requires an open mind and an appreciation of diverse perspectives. Leaders must be able to identify any prejudice they may have and look for ways to develop a more open-minded view of all students. This can be one of the most difficult skills for the girls to acquire, as it often questions their personal values. Cultural diversity activities will form a large part of the leadership program and will help them to develop a more global view and understanding of the world. The leadership program in the boarding house will be very focused and require a commitment from the girls to be involved over a period of one year. At the end of this time they will be prepared not only to take on leadership roles within the boarding house but also within the whole school.

References

Damon, W 2004, ‘What is positive youth development?’ The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 591, no. 1, pp. 13-24. Fertman, CI & Long, JA 1990, ‘All students are leaders’, The School Counsellor, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 391 – 396. Lapsley, DK, Fitzgerald, DP, Rice, KG & Jackson, S,1989, ‘SeparationIndividuation and the “New Look” at the Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable: A Test of an Integrative Model’, Journal of Adolescent Research, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 483-505. Martin, AJ & Dowson, M 2009, ‘Interpersonal Relationships, Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement: Yields for Theory, Current Issues, and Educational Practice’, Review of Educational Research, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 327-365. Ricketts, JC & Rudd, RD 2002, ‘A Comprehensive Leadership Education Model to Train, Teach and Develop Leadership in Youth’, Journal of Career and Technical Education, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 7-17.

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