Introduction

The role of leadership has been vital to the development of our state and nation and will be critical in meeting emerging and future challenges. American society requires that students become informed and active participants in every aspect of their lives. In recognition of the important role that effective leadership skills play in providing today’s students an advantage in tomorrow’s competitive world, the Virginia Board of Education has approved this optional leadership development curriculum as a model for schools to use in preparing students in kindergarten through grade twelve for their individual and group leadership responsibilities.

The Leadership Development Curriculum identifies important processes, skills, and opportunities that promote leadership in all students at all grade levels. The program is unique in that it was not written as an add-on curriculum. Rather, it suggests ways that content and activities that are currently being taught in Virginia classrooms can support the development and practice of leadership skills for students. While certain leadership topics have been highlighted for discussion throughout the curriculum, the intent is to provide a framework that allows teachers to embed leadership development in existing instruction within all subject areas at various grade levels. The expectations of the curriculum and the activities associated with them have been closely aligned with Virginia’s Standards of Learning. However, the framework could easily serve as the basis for a more detailed curriculum for an independent course or seminar on leadership.

The model curriculum was developed by a committee of educators who currently incorporate the development of leadership skills into their instruction and their extra-curricular work with students. The defined goals of the Leadership Development Curriculum are as follows: to develop in every K-12 student an awareness of his or her own leadership potential; to assist young people in developing essential leadership skills that enable them to act responsibly in all aspects of their lives; to develop citizens who possess the leadership abilities to meet present and future challenges in a global society; and to provide students with opportunities to learn and practice essential leadership skills within a learning community.

Using current research on effective leadership as well as ideas generated by some of Virginia’s most recognized and successful leaders, the writing committee identified four areas of leadership development that form the basis for the development of effective leadership skills. These areas became the four organizing strands that frame the document at all grade levels: Developing Knowledge of Self and Others, Defining Leadership, Developing Leadership Skills and Practices, and Practicing Leadership through Service. The strands have been placed in this order simply as an organizational tool, because it is clear that leadership development does not occur in a linear process. Some individuals practice leadership naturally before they are aware of its elements, while others require development of their own self-confidence and skills before they can become effective leaders. This curriculum is designed to promote an awareness in all students of their potential for leadership at many levels – at home; at school; in the workplace; and in local, state, and national communities.

The curriculum is sub-divided into four grade clusters for the purpose of developing student leadership expectations: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The following codes have been used in the document to identify the expectations by grade cluster: EC – Early Childhood (grades K-2); ES – Elementary School (grades 3-5); MS – Middle School (grades 6-8); and HS – High School (grades 9-12). Within each grade cluster, three or four expectations have been delineated for each organizing strand. Taken as a whole within the grade cluster, the thirteen expectations provide an array of skills, processes, and opportunities that enable students to develop leadership skills appropriate to their age group. However, the expectations were actually developed in a horizontal format, with a clear progression of continuity and increasing complexity from the elementary grades through the middle years to high school. An effort was also made to allow the expectations within an independent grade cluster to stand on their own so that, if necessary, teachers might be able to use the curriculum independently of others in the school, for example, in an extra-curricular environment. However, teachers may want to consult the student expectations for the grade clusters above and below the grade they are teaching. For teachers of young children, it will be beneficial to understand how the skills and processes that students develop at a young age serve to reinforce broader and more complex expectations for older students. Also, certain concepts that are included at the lower grades may need to be reinforced or included at the upper grades if they have not been addressed previously.

The model Leadership Development Curriculum does not prescribe any particular method for developing the student leadership expectations identified in this document. A great deal of flexibility has been provided for individual teachers and school divisions that wish to use the curriculum as a model. The educators who developed the curriculum were also able to contribute many ideas and resources to assist teachers as they work to promote leadership development in students. These sample instructional activities, strategies, and resources are included as a part of this document.