Leading Building a Leadership Culture

When our #ONedchat team does long range planning, we determine the dates and topics of our chats and fill in who will moderate, adding in guests as we secure their availability. When I first signed up for a topic that I titled Building a Leadership Culture, I did so because I love creating leadership roles for students, and I have witnessed their transformative power multiple times over many years. It was a topic close to my heart, and I figured that I would find a guest over the next few months.

As the chat was coming closer, I invited some great educators as possible guests. While the timing didn't work for them, and I hope that we can figure something out in the future, I was really unsure what to do. I was scheduled to moderate a chat, but I was guestless. I couldn't see at the time that I actually had enough experience and expertise on the subject to lead the discussion. When I thought that maybe I could, I wondered if I should. I had to build the courage and gain the perspective to take the wheel.

Being part of a team at #ONedchat means that we share ideas, ask questions and support each other. When I decided to take the reins, the amazing Allison Fuisz partnered with me, and the planning began. Allison is a huge advocate for student voice, so she had a lot of input as we co-created the questions. I had formed a vision of how the question cards would look; I knew that I wanted to make them out of my students’ leadership activities. Building a Leadership Culture was going to happen!

When I first started running Student Council in 1996, it involved a 10 student team of some executive and class representatives. By the time I left that role at my former school, it was mandatory for every Grade 8 student to be involved in some leadership activity. From elected position to volunteer roles ranging from executive to committee head to Grade 8 helper, half of the Middle School became involved. Student Council was a way for students to do something more with their day than learn inside the classroom. Student leadership promotes a different kind of learning and it is worth investing in.

I created a workshop titled Building a Leadership Culture to present to my school and at a few conferences. It was grounded in the the formula that I discovered best nurtures leadership for students. The approach includes: goals, roles, controls and polls. I had actually forgotten about the aspects of this approach because I haven't presented it for some time now, but it all came back to me. I guess it's also because it is just what I do, so I don't name the aspects out loud much anymore. Successful leadership experiences for students have stated goals or a clear sense of purpose. I also find that when roles are clearly identified, students can articulate their purpose and work on building the skills necessary for the job. Controls are about a system of support for student leadership. The administration, teachers and parents need to buy into the leadership roles and goals in a school. The stakeholders help to ensure that student leadership is a valued proposition and allow teachers a time, place and space to support leadership development. Polls are about being data driven, whether in terms of creating responsive ways for students to get involved or using feedback to guide next steps in terms of event planning or even expanding the offerings. Preparing for this chat reminded me how much I have thought about and invested in student leadership.

In my most recent position as Student Council Advisor and RS360 Coordinator, I developed a Student Council that involved more committees and invited more participants than ever before. Through the committees we offered, more than half of the Middle School became involved on either large or small scales. We had to cap our Proso (Programming and Social) Team at 30 students, and we had to expand our announcement committee to include rotations over two weeks to accommodate the interest. One of my favourite endeavors were the three yearly editions of our Middle School newspaper. How I love seeing students follow their interests and report on their passions. From fashion to sports, comics to fun facts, Device Advice, to Game Goons, the paper had something for everyone and was a way to practice writing skills in an authentic context. Even the RS360 (Respectful School 360), which I thought up at a conference, had become a part of the offering with the President as the lead Respectful School Ambassador (RSA). I realize now when I talk about the role of Student Council advisor, it isn’t universal and doesn’t always mean the same thing at every school.

When I was designing the question cards for the chat this past Wednesday, it got me leafing through decades of student work. It made me nostalgic and emotional to think that I was able to give students a voice in so many areas. I may not have had a formal leadership role, but the power of leading leaders is something very special and a position that I have deeply enjoyed.

I am so glad that this chat happened. I feel like it gave me the forum to share what I know and love about teaching students outside the classroom while inviting so many others to do the same. The collaboration of ideas was a catalyst for more reading, thinking and reflecting. Over the years, I have gotten quieter in this role so that students could get louder. Sharing what I know with others reminds me how much I have to contribute to certain conversations. Students deserve to see and be themselves in their school experiences, and that can’t always be achieved within the classroom walls (, another way to build outside the blocks). Building a leadership culture is offering students something more worth walking in the door for, and allows them to build something of their very own.

You can check out the archive of our Building a Leadership Culture #ONedchat if you click on the awesome infographic below by @sharonzyg created as a synopsis of the discussion.