Our students are smarter than we think.
My search for an Authentic Student Leadership Selection Process
MY SEARCH FOR AN AUTHENTIC STUDENT LEADERSHIP SELECTION PROCESS
After helping with the leadership development in hundreds of schools, I'm still looking for an authentic student leadership selection process that is educative, aspirational, transparent, positive and genuine.
Many schools are happy with some parts of their process, but other parts of their selection process make me cringe a little.
Oftentimes, this process can be tokenistic and includes mixed messaging, campaigning and a popularity contest. Our plan is to change that.
While an authentic process will look a little different in each school, I've found that the main parts are basically the same. This usually includes education of the cohort of students, sharing the student leadership structure and roles with students, the nomination process, demonstration of competence, voting or preferencing and finally the selection process.
What parts are important to you? What parts need some attention?
Where do you struggle to ensure the process is fair and transparent? What messages does your leadership process send about leadership to your students and community? Are there tokenistic aspects to your process or is it genuine? Is leadership a reward or a responsibility? Is there campaigning happening by students during the time just before selections are made?
Check out the video below, and I'd love to hear from you if you're as passionate about this as I am.
If you believe that you have some pieces of the student leadership selection process puzzle working well at your school, reach out to us and let us know what you're doing.
If you need some assistance developing or refining your existing student leadership selection process, reach out to us at by reply email. We'd love to help you.
Sincerely,
Luke McKenna
Director- Unleashing Personal Potential
Unleashing Personal Potential (UPP) facilitate exceptional Wellbeing and Leadership workshops that empower students to THRIVE, as they LEARN, LIVE and LEAD. In 2021, UPP positively impacted 55,000+ students throughout Queensland, NSW and Victoria.