In 2008 LfL was asked to evaluate an initiative to support student leadership. This followed on very well from the IPiL project  which had put forward a number of key principles for practice which included “Everyone, including pupils, is encouraged to exercise leadership as appropriate to task and context with opportunities for leadership to be a shared activity”. The Learning to Lead initiative began in the Blue School in Wells, Somerset as a way of enhancing student engagement.

The LtoL model involves conducting a school wide survey and discussion to identify priorities for action. Students are then invited to join project teams around those priorities. These typically include teams such as ‘The recycling team’ or ‘Improving the school playgrounds team’ as well as ones dedicated to caring for chickens and growing food in the school grounds. Each team is provided with induction and support to enable them to become self-leading teams able to take action to transform their schools and communities. These teams all report back to the School Forum which makes decisions about how best to support the process. The School Forum, facilitated by students themselves appoints representatives to join a committee which includes senior leadership team members to ensure cooperation.

The evaluation makes the practice visible and identifies the benefits to the students and to their schools. It concludes that the Learning to Lead study provides grounds for claiming that student leadership has enormous potential to transform the experience of school for young people and in so doing transform the school itself. The evidence points to radical shifts in student dispositions, marked improvement in the quality of relationships and the development of participative school cultures which enable young people to flourish and achieve.

If you would like to know more you can download (at no cost) the booklet “Learning to Lead: the Story So Far” and the full evaluation report or watch this brief video about the beneficial experience of being involved in Learning to Lead, made at our recent NUT/HCD  conference ‘Student Leadership – Yes they can!’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SRaeoD2y7g