There is a new philosophy which has surfaced in many schools. It is driven by good intentions but is unlikely to reap any rewards.
This philosophy maintains that every child is a born leader. Just like every child has the potential to contribute to society, so too, every child has an innate, yet untouched, ability to lead.
This line of thinking has inspired schools to appoint many different leadership positions such as class captain, house captain, prefects etc and rotate these positions, thereby giving every member of the class a chance to assume a leadership role.
What could be wrong with that?
Two things.
Firstly, what is the point of offering leadership positions if they are going to be devalued by being handed out to every member of the class, regardless of their abilities? Isn’t the whole point of these positions to honour children that have a long and distinguished record of setting a good example and working hard? What is the point of having a class captain if the person taking on the role has a record of misbehaviour, truancy and possesses a poor work ethic?
Secondly, who says every child can be a leader? This is simply untrue. Most people are not leaders – they are followers. True leaders are very rare – just look at some of our lackluster politicians! Appointing certain children in leadership roles will not only not work but will most likely put an unfair set of expectations on children that neither asked for, nor earned such responsibility.
The notion that we should aspire to be leaders is something I find very troubling. I believe we should all aspire to be caring, considerate, respectful and hard working. If we are not a leader, that is fine. We can’t all be leaders, just like we can’t all be good at drawing or playing sport.
Schools that are trying to turn all their students into leaders would be better served trying to turn their students into good citizens.
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Topical Teaching 