When my daughter was in Nursery School, she came home one day explaining the key things she had learned in school: boys are stronger and better at sports than girls, girls like pink and boys like blue, and there were certain things that girls were not meant to do. It was at that moment that I felt totally helpless, as everything I had begun to teach my daughter within my own value set was being countered by the external influences of gender-stereotyping. As a result, I began exploring the notion of leadership more profoundly, as it relates to developing girls’ thinking, behaviors, and actions as integral citizens of the world. The more I began to re-define and re-think traditional definitions of leadership, the more I came to realize that the elementary school years are the fundamental place where leadership can truly be developed in exciting and unique ways. As my personal and professional journey as parent of a girl and Director of an all-girls Primary School has continued, it has become less about having answers and more about asking the right questions.
As educators, one of our best practices in elementary schools is to give girls roles within the classroom or as part of the larger school community. From attendance person to doing calendar work and reminding students when it is time to clean up, there are so many ways for children to be exposed to what it means to be accountable and to take ownership of an important community responsibility. The study of leadership, past and present, are also spaces where leaders of all genders and backgrounds can be celebrated and analyzed for who and what they have done to contribute to a better world. As teachers of leadership though, it is my belief that forming leaders begins with the foundation of one’s growing identity and an increasing sense of confidence in who we hope to be, what we aspire to do, and how we communicate, interact with and respond to the daily trials and tribulations of life.
As I made the shift away from answering questions and focused more in determining what the essential questions are, some of them include the following:
- How do I define, model, and teach leadership?
- What stereotypes do children hold about what leaders do, who can become a leader, and how one gets there?
- How do celebrities and the word “leadership” intersect in today’s media-laden world and what are the implications for students?
- How do children’s attitudes and dispositions toward people and developmentally typical events inform their character and in turn the development of leadership?
- Do I personally believe that leadership is inherited, nurtured or both? What are the implications of my beliefs?
- As leaders, how do we connect to others locally and globally?
These are only a few of the questions that I have grappled with in my development of an 11 week leadership course for fifth grade girls, where we focus on authentic discussions and defining of the whats, whos, and hows of positive leadership. Some of the highlights of this class focus on team building, questioning our notions of leadership, engaging in different forms of communication (debate vs. dialogue), and developing an understanding of what it means to impact the world, on a small or larger scale. I invite others to share in their ideas, understandings, and questions about leadership, as we look toward defining our purpose and goals as educators of girls.
