Shaping Student Leaders - Interactive Presentation
As part of our school's 2020/21 first week orientation I led a teacher workshop on how to develop leadership skills in students, alongside the IB framework. Collaboration is key so this presentation was filled with a variety of activities providing teachers with practical examples on how to link the objectives with ATL’s and Learner Profiles. I grew a strong interest in my own leadership skills as I started our athletics program, taking on the role of Athletics Director, and with the undertaking of becoming the Community Project Coordinator at my school as well. I have a strong desire to better support both students, and colleagues acting as mentors or coaches. My initial research led me to The Leadership Challenge website and I became interested in their resource guide for older students, seeing the great potential and meaningful ways to incorporate their “five practices for exemplary student leaders” in my curriculum.
The hour-long session had teachers working in groups as we explored the five practices of exemplary leaders. Learner profiles, ATL skills, and leadership themes were linked to these five practices, through games and activities. As you would in an effective teaching environment, I wanted to ensure the teachers could see how leadership can be naturally developed in a variety of learning styles. This session included activities that were:
Intrapersonal: Individual Value Reflection - Model The Way
Visual: Invictus Movie Study - Inspire a Shared Vision
Verbal: Small Group Discussion - Challenge The Process
Physical: Quote Walk - Enable Others To Act
Social: I Appreciate You - Encourage The Heart
The Student Leadership Challenge Facilitation Guide is filled with 100’s of great resources for each of the 5 practices so it was tough to narrow it down to just 5 collaborative activities for the session!
Click the image for the PDF presentation. Hopefully this will help inspire you to bring a greater focus on leadership to your school, as it is as important as ever for young students to understand that they too, can make a difference.
It was encouraging to see the reception and participation the session garnered from the MYP teaching staff and I look forward to working with my fellow teachers to focus on enhancing the use of ATL skills and Learner Profiles in activities to promote greater student leadership at our school.
In my own teaching, both in PHE and during homeroom time, I will consistently make the leadership practices a focus in activities, with students reflecting on which attributes they feel confident using and which ones they want to improve upon. The responses will shape future lessons with connections to the current unit ATL skills being a key focus.
How are you developing and encouraging leadership at your school? Send me a message on twitter @tannernickel or an email!