5 Best Ways to Teach Leadership Skills to Students

Gone are the days when education was all about textbook knowledge and good grades. In the contemporary world, education goes much beyond textbook chapters and examinations. Now, teachers, as well as parents, view education as a holistic idea that combines learning with interpersonal skills. The world is becoming more competitive and demanding with each passing day, isn’t it? So, as a teacher, you want your students to cover all aspects of learning to excel in a comprehensive manner.

Most of the educators want their students to not restrict themselves to the curriculum. As a teacher, you are always keen to add more perspectives to the growth and development of your students. So, to do that in an effective way, it is important to incorporate various essential skills in your students. Most of the teachers want their students to be confident individuals who are willing to face several challenges. Hence, they emphasize the importance of inculcating leadership skills in their students.

Moving further, in a classroom environment, you are the leader who is at the helm of things. You bring all students together as a teacher and lead them in a set direction towards excellence. Now, a common thing that most leaders do is that they inspire others to become leaders. So, as an educator and a leader, you should dedicate some efforts to create leaders among your students. Whenever your students need someone to look up to, they are going to count on the leader in you. With great leadership skills, your students are going to earn their rightful place in the socio-economic setups. Also, each leader that you create today is going to make you proud in the future. Isn’t this something you are going to love as a teacher?

Next, let us look at the relevance of leadership skills in the education and development of kids. Why do you think leadership skills make a vital part of the education process? While students should learn various interpersonal skills at school, leadership should be the first. There are various ways in which leadership skills can contribute to the education of wards. Further, we look at the need to include leadership skills in the curriculum of students.

Why are leadership skills important for students to learn?

There are many reasons for which students and teachers should work on leadership skills. Not only do leadership traits give unmatched exposure to students but they also open new possibilities for them. With leadership skills come better decision making, analytical skills, and the ability to work in teams. These skills may not benefit the grades of students in a direct way. But for attaining success in the future, they add a lot of value to their personalities.

Having a confident and dynamic personality is going to give students an edge over others. Further, this edge is going to matter a lot in their higher education or professional scenarios. In that stage of their careers, they are going to need this exposure the most. Hence, the demand and the importance of student leadership is high. For a better understanding of the merits that leadership skills offer to students and their careers, here is a quick list.

• Leaderships skills add immense confidence among students
• Leadership skills prepare school students for college applications and interviews
• Leaderships skills help students to learn teamwork and networking
• Leadership traits add value to the resumes of students
• Leadership qualities help students develop better problem-solving skills
• Leadership skills help students to be better communicators
• Leadership traits give a professional outlook to students
• Leadership qualities introduce students to new career types
• With leadership skills, students can excel in co-curricular activities
• Leadership roles promote healthy competition among students

So, the above advantages of leadership skills give you a clearer perspective on the importance of leadership skills. These qualities add to a student’s life and prospects in more than one way. Students can achieve their career goals better with these skills. Now, we know how beneficial leadership qualities can be for student engagement. So, let us look at the various ways in which you can teach these to your students.

Effective ways to teach leadership skills to students

1. Include small leaderships lessons in classroom learning

You can always take a little detour from books and hold a small session on leadership. You can do this once a week or once in 15 days by taking out 10-15 minutes for the session. These small pep talks on leadership can make significant differences in their learning. So, as their leader, tell them about the importance of leadership and its application in life. Besides, tell them how these skills make them better individuals. Also, to add more relevance, you can include examples of leaders from various fields and share their stories. In this way, relating to an example, they can realize how leadership qualities are vital for success. You should always remember that teaching leadership skills is also one of the ways to enhance student engagement. 

     2. Encourage students to volunteer for leadership roles

The most innovative and easy-going way can be to make students volunteer on their own for leadership positions. You can ask students to volunteer for leading their groups in group activities. Also, you can ask them to volunteer for being the monitor of the class, or leader for inter-school competitions. Further, using a policy of rotation, you can offer leadership roles to various students after a fixed period of time. Hence, when students volunteer to lead or see others leading, they can develop the curiosity to learn leadership skills.

     3. Organize group activities often

When you organize students in small groups for extracurricular activities like quizzes or debates, you give them a chance to lead. Every student group requires a leader and this is how more team activities bring more leadership opportunities. Also, when students work in collaboration, you get a chance to identify leaders among them. Hence, you should look to conduct at least one group activity in the class every month.

     4. Share your perspective on leadership

Share your experience as a leader with your class. You can tell them how you view leadership and how you apply it in the classroom environment. Moreover, you can add how you use these skills to teach them and organize them. Here you can also talk about the various supplemental skills like communication skills that make you a better leader. Use your personal experience to teach leadership to your students. This works in a successful way as they can relate to you. Hence, whenever you get an opportunity, you should share your idea of leadership with students.

     5. Have interactive discussions

People often realize their leadership potentials when they feel free to share their ideas and thoughts. Hold interactive discussions during classroom learning and ask open-ended questions. Once they start feeling comfortable while sharing their perspectives in front of the class, they gain the confidence to lead. Further, these discussions should not be only about what is there in their textbooks. Try to have interactive sessions on as many vivid topics as possible. Usually, children feel more comfortable talking about the prevailing issues or current affairs.

To encapsulate, leadership skills can add immense value to the holistic development of students. These qualities are paramount to the personality development of a student. With good leadership qualities, students can boost their self-confidence and unlock new opportunities. As a teacher, you should take a keen interest in teaching these skills to your students. Further, there are some convenient and actionable ways that you can use to teach them the same. Students learn leadership skills the best when they work in teams or when they volunteer for leadership roles. The leadership skills that students learn at school are going to make a positive difference in their professional lives. Hence, as their first example of a leader, you can and will inspire leadership qualities in your students.

How do you teach leadership skills to students? Share in the comments.

About the Author:

Jessica Robinson finds her peace in penning down intriguing and captivating blogs for her readers. So, she has been creating the finest pieces of content for over a decade while working at ‘The Speaking Polymath’.

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