Student leadership in years 7 to 10: challenges and opportunities

For many schools in Australia, student leadership is characterised by a model that focuses the leadership action and responsibility with students at years 11 and 12.  This way of organising student leadership is often supplemented by student representative council or a similar group which reaches more widely across year levels. It is understandable that this structure poses significant challenges for schools which include only years 7 to 10. It is these challenges that have provided opportunities for the development of leadership in young students with the appropriate support and guidance.

It is understandable, and arguably appropriate, that student leadership is usually heavily invested in students in years 11 and 12. These students usually have a greater capacity to undertake the challenges of leadership in terms of their own personal development and the development of their understanding of their role in a community. It is interesting, however, that when the pressures of study, work, sport, parental expectations, and so on, are at their most acute in years 11 and 12 that schools add the commitment and pressure of leadership to those young people. It could be argued that whilst these students have the greatest capacity to lead in terms of personal abilities and maturity, they may have the least capacity in terms of time, focus and energy. Perhaps there is an opportunity to revisit this way of approaching leadership and some lessons may be learned from those schools forced by their nature to try other alternatives.

In Tasmania, the majority of secondary education is delivered by year 7 to 10 schools and senior secondary education, year 11 and 12, in senior secondary colleges.  This model has significant implications for retention rates but allows for the provision of a wide range of subject choices in each college. The wisdom, or otherwise, of this arrangement is debatable but nonetheless it is a current reality for schools in Tasmania. This unusual structure may provide the basis for some important lessons to be learned from the Tasmanian experience. Since years 11 and 12 are nonexistent in most secondary schools, the year 10s become the senior class and leaders in these schools. This provides opportunities for leadership growth in these students that would not be possible in most year 7 to 12 colleges. That the students are capable, with specific support and guidance should indicate to other schools that there is a wasted opportunity with younger students for leadership even in schools which have year 11 and 12.

The challenges inherent in year 7 to 10 secondary schools related to student leadership include the relatively low level of development of leadership skills and understanding of the role of a leader as compared to year 11 and 12 students. This is primarily due to their age and level of ‘life’ experience. While this is an issue, particularly for boys at this age, it can be overcome by providing a framework of support and guidance and by teachers being aware of both the gifts and limitations of their students. A significant level of growth of leadership skills in these students can be achieved by providing leadership opportunities at year 10. This can give these individuals significant advantages over others as they undertake the challenges of years 11 and 12 and into their future careers.

Leadership at Dominic College

Dominic College is a Catholic kindergarten to year 10 college that is situated in the northern suburbs of Hobart, Tasmania. It is administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco, an order of priests and brothers dedicated to the education of young people. The Salesian philosophy is based on reason, religion and kindness and relies on an active caring presence of staff with the young. The college has an ongoing commitment to empower students to cope confidently with the changing and diverse nature of society. It is within this context that a modification of the traditional model of senior student leadership has occurred and grown over recent years. This model has provided opportunities for the school to grow from the leadership shown by year 10 students as they work closely with staff to improve the college.

Specific roles and tasks

The structure of the secondary campus at Dominic College lends itself to leadership by students. The vertical streaming of students into home rooms based upon a house structure provides leadership positions for two house captains, two house vice-captains and pastoral group leaders for each house. With five pastoral groups in each house and the appointment of two college captains and vice captains this means that a total of 40 students at year 10 have a position of leadership within the house system. In addition to this, a student senate is elected with two representatives from each house giving 48 year 10 students a formal role in leadership. There are a variety of other, more informal opportunities for leadership within this group including sporting teams, mission and outreach groups and a variety of extra-curricular activities. All of these are recognised, by students and staff alike, as opportunities to demonstrate and develop leadership for students. This is a significant number in a total cohort of approximately 120 students each year and provides the basis for leadership development in a high proportion of the year group. This has led to a shared understanding of the role of each person as a leader as they undertake specific roles.

A student representative council works as a subsidiary group to the student senate and is selected from students in years 7 to 9 based upon their house. These students are led in their meetings and activities by the college vice-captains, with the support of the head of secondary, giving these year 10s a vital role in developing the next generations of leaders and a specific opportunity to develop their own skills.
Identifying and electing leaders

At Dominic College, the student leaders are elected via a nomination process that allows both staff and students to choose those individuals who would best lead them for the following year. The nominations are based upon several criteria which are based upon the following excerpt from the student and staff nomination forms.

‘The students selected will need to have a demonstrated commitment to all areas of College life (for example, academic, co-curricular, spiritual) and the confidence and credibility to be effective role models for other students. They will have self-confidence and have the support of both staff and students. The successful students will be able to lead by both word and example and understand their role as serving others as well as inspiring them. They must be mature enough to cope with the extra expectations and tasks required of them.’ However, the process is much more than a popularity contest with students having to have both teacher and student nominations to move to the next part of the process which involves interviews with senior staff. At the interview the students are asked to describe their own understanding of leadership, demonstrate the manner in which they have already shown leadership at the college previously (a fairly challenging task for year 9 students) and also to outline how they could work collaboratively with staff and other students to improve the school. At the end of this process, almost invariably relatively strong and committed leaders are chosen to lead the college.

Support and development

The selection of students who are open to the challenge and have the right attributes is really only the first step in the development of positive leaders at this young age, and this should be so for all individuals undertaking a leadership role, student or adult. A year-long process of support and training begins at this point. In order to begin the process of assisting students to understand their roles and learn some skills of leadership they are invited to attend an overnight camp held on the school’s spacious grounds before the start of the academic year.

The camp is designed so that leaders work with key staff in discussing and practicing a range of leadership areas such as:

• public speaking
• positive peer pressure
• the role of leadership in a Catholic school
• leadership on and off the sporting field
• making change within the school
• leadership styles.

The camp also provides opportunities for year 10 leaders to work with their peers and staff on shared and individual goals and aims for leadership in their specific area. Along with these aspects of the camp there are specific activities which promote and develop team building and the sense of a shared journey with peers and staff in the leadership of the college. This is a critical aspect of leadership by year 10 students as they seek to take on responsibility.

The level of support offered by staff is vitally important for year 10 students throughout the year in terms of their leadership roles. The pastoral teacher charged with the responsibility for each pastoral home room, the house coordinator and the head of campus, along with other key staff, must give specific and focused support to the year 10 leaders as they undertake their roles. The support necessary is much more hands on and directed than would normally be the case with older students but it pays great dividends as these students quickly grow and adapt into their leadership roles and gain confidence. This need for support for student leaders can often be forgotten in other settings as year 12s have the presence to cope much more readily that their younger counterparts. However, setting up mentoring roles for staff and other students for those students in leadership roles should be more common than it is in all schools if we want better outcomes.

Conclusion

The student leaders at schools like Dominic College take on great responsibility at a young age. Involving them in organising and running such activities as assemblies, sports carnivals, celebrations, and so on, and giving them the challenges of working with younger students to develop leadership is, at times, risky. It also takes a significant investment of time and resources to give those students the support and safety nets that they require as they grow and learn about the realities of leadership. However, the payoff is in the manner in which they themselves are transformed as young people and how they give life to the school with their enthusiasm and creativity. There are lessons to be learned for all secondary schools from these experiences: that there is a largely untapped resource of leaders in younger grades if only years 12 students are given the responsibility of leadership and that, no matter who the leaders are, greater outcomes will be achieved with the appropriate levels of support.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mr John Visentin has been Head of the Secondary Campus at Dominic College, in Hobart, Tasmania, since 2003. Previously, he was Head of Mathematics at Trinity Grammar School, in Kew, Victoria. Mr Visentin has also taught at other schools in Tasmania and the UK. His current role allows him to work closely with students and parents, especially in the areas of leadership.

 

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