How to Build a Leadership Program for Elementary Students - a Creative Approach

To succeed with an elementary students’ leadership program, we need engaging fun activities that arise from well researched educational strategies. We need to link past proven strategies to 21st century learning.

The best way would be to stimulate group learning, in which all students get their chance to practice leading their teams into creative problem-solving conversations, projects development and presentations to class.

Having the opportunity to both lead and to be led by mates develops leadership skills that are based on care for followers. Students become experienced in influencing others by empathetically stimulating intrinsic motivation.

The teacher should promote creative questioning, critical thinking, decision making and creative problem solving in a way that students don’t notice they are learning. The intention is to grow self-leadership. That means helping the students boost their strengths while being tooled to enhance what they find challenging.

The teacher’s goal is to promote leadership that emphasizes win-win situations. First level lessons should use metaphoric thinking to help internalize abstract concepts. Yet they should offer opportunities to express creative ideas.

It is of value to introduce the worlds of business, science, and entrepreneurship in simple ways. What’s more encouraging expressing imagination is very important, because research shows creativity decreases dramatically by the end of elementary school. Leaders need imagination to envision future solutions and products. Leaders need creative problem solving to make such solutions work, and stamina to promote them.

We want to heighten the skills of critical thinking and decision making, making sure their creativity is sharpened into a skill. We’d want them to be aware of future environmental, social and economic problems. And to care enough to empower change.

The good thing about such a program is that it challenges kids’ intellect. Children need this kind of valuable stimulation. They know that as adults they’ll connect with peers, probably from around the world. Such a program should honor their culture together with getting to know and appreciate others'. The past is the basis for growth into the future. It’s elementary.