Developing Leadership Skills in Students: Why It Matters

Developing Leadership Skills in Students can be key to students’ educational experience and outcomes. Moreover, student leaders enhance skills and develop personal traits needed for success beyond the classroom. When given the right opportunities, students can have a profound impact on the environment, atmosphere and growth of a school.

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At IWS this year, we have been developing and growing our student leadership opportunities, within which, one key area of growth has been our student-led after school clubs. Students have been empowered to establish and grow their own clubs within our diverse and inclusive online learning community. 

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What I have noticed most in the students that I teach on a regular basis that have taken on student leadership positions is the personal growth that they experience via leadership and how that filters through into their approach to learning. The sense of ownership, responsibility and accountability of their own learning in a mature and responsible way. 

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As a school, offering opportunities for student leadership has allowed us to grow our student voice and selection of after school clubs in a student-centred, meaningful and impactful way. Allowing students to create and run their own clubs has nurtured a diverse, inclusive, empowering and engaging environment in which many of our students have been able to flourish.

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Part of our after school club leadership is sharing skills and knowledge and this has opened doors for peer-to-peer learning. Students collaborate with each other and staff too and this has allowed students to develop new friendships and global connections in ways that they wouldn't have done had they not had the opportunity to lead. Moreover, students that have been leading our after school clubs have visibly grown in confidence in interacting with others.

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Through student leadership, vital life skills are enhanced such as those in communication, decision making, relationship building and developing emotional intelligence, all of which are highly transferable to the wider world beyond school meaning that ultimately and  most importantly, for our students, student leadership has a lasting impact.