The role of early student leadership – building skills for future impact

As a teacher and international school leader, I have always been interested in early leadership opportunities in school to help develop students' skill sets. This article explores experiences of building opportunities for leadership within school to increase student impact in the community. A review of published literature relating to schools and higher education proposes a range of potential leadership models for student engagement. This posits leadership as a useful and emergent skill, which has a projected benefit for leadership roles within the workplace. Dugan (2006) references the social change model as promoting social responsibility and enhancing student self-awareness; this is contrasted by a transformational leadership approach, defined as relational, collective and purposeful (Ingleton, 2013). Leadership purpose: Establishing your why Crucial to our understanding of where to address our focus is establishing why we want students to engage in leadership activities. Thoms