An Evidence-Based Practitioner’s Model for Adolescent Leadership Development

Abstract

Training the leaders of tomorrow has been a focus of school programs in the past and will continue to be a main point of differentiation for the future. While much has been written on leadership development across the lifespan and leadership of and within educational organizations, despite this breath of literature, little is found that directly aids the teacher or administrator wishing to implement a student leadership development program. Published literature on youth leadership development seeks to encompass all of the factors that potentially influence leadership development, many of which are already implemented at some schools and others of which are outside of the sphere of influence of the educator. The main issue with this approach for the educator is that the influences on youth leadership development extend far beyond the boundaries of what a specific school based program can entail. The lack of easily applicable research related to adolescent leadership development for practitioners limits the ability to translate research to train the leaders of tomorrow. Additionally, universities have also begun placing an emphasis on skills such as leadership in the admission process, and leadership remains a desirable skill in the workplace (Kuhn & Wienberger, 2005). Furthermore, students who demonstrate high indications of leadership skill by 10th grade and are exposed to more leadership opportunities in 11th and 12th grades earn more as adults (Kuhn & Wienberger). Given this future benefit and value of leadership opportunities at the high school level, educators must focus on how leadership capabilities can be developed further for all students at increasingly earlier stages in their schooling. This