Preparing Students for Leadership Rooted in Values, Collaboration, and Self-Reflection

By Tom Sellevaag, Upper Grades Head

In case you haven’t noticed: Inauguration Day is almost here, and at this quintessentially Washington moment, much of our area is abuzz with preparations for a leadership transition. At the same time, much of our area is also abuzz with the rebirth of the Washington Commanders. Inauguration Day and the Commanders' resurgence highlight the power of leadership transitions. Nationally, questions swirl about the new President’s agenda, team, and the legacy of his predecessor. Locally, the Commanders’ first playoff success in two decades, driven by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, raises hopes for the franchise's future under new ownership. These moments underscore our fascination with charismatic leaders—whether a President, athlete, executive, or mayor—who inspire and achieve. But being a leader is not necessarily the same as being a hero, and in my opinion, we err when we start to conflate the two. As an educator and a parent, I often wonder what lessons our kids are internalizing about the nature of effective leadership when they look at the world around them. We often hear some version of the cliche that we’re preparing children to be “tomorrow’s leaders.” What does that really mean? And how are we attempting to do it?

First and foremost, leadership isn’t just about making decisions and getting stuff done; it’s fundamentally about values. For guidance on this point, we need look no further than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow. Dr. King is of course honored as one of the greatest leaders in history, and his speeches and writings are packed with wisdom that has inspired leaders of diverse stripes over time. About leadership itself, he famously said that a genuine leader must not be simply a “searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” In other words, leadership is more than figuring out what most people can agree on—the happy medium or the path of least resistance. Molding consensus requires the leader to have a vision for an ideal outcome (or a range of ideal outcomes), and vision rests on values. This is why communications from the School so often reference terms such as progressive education, justice, community, intentionality, and the whole-child perspective on teaching and learning. As leaders—whether of the School, the Upper Grades, or the classroom—we carefully consider how to make our work consistent with our values. At the same time, we need to guard against the tendency to spend too much time debating the best path and too little time following that path, lest we end up with what Dr. King called “the high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.”

Second, leadership is collaborative in nature. The casual observer probably doesn’t know the names of the President’s senior advisors or the Commanders’ offensive linemen, but their contributions are integral to the success of the person charged with making the big decisions for the country or the football team. The best leaders don’t see their team merely as a source of information; rather, they work to cultivate a genuine appreciation for and among each member. 

A core tenet of progressive education (there’s that term again!) is the idea that teachers and students are co-learners who work side-by-side to construct understanding—or as the adage goes, the teacher should be the “guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.”  These notions are not meant to absolve teachers of their role as leaders in the classroom; rather, they describe the nature of effective classroom leadership. 

This belief also undergirds our focus on collaborative learning among students. School is not simply a co-working environment for adolescents, it’s a place for them to learn with and from each other. Teachers provide opportunities for this to happen on a daily basis through intentional task design, the development of class norms, and more. For a larger-scale example, the annual Arts Choice Musical production elevates 7th and 8th Graders into significant collaborative leadership roles managing props, costumes, set design, and the stage crew. Furthermore, one or two students serve as Stage Manager, assisting with running rehearsals and coordinating the many backstage logistical details before and during the performances. As a result, Drama teacher Shelly Work spends considerable time helping students grow their skills as leaders. She notes that, even though there is a clear hierarchy in theater, “Being a leader [in theater] is not about being in charge and telling people what to do. It’s about bringing people into the fold...inviting them to see your perspective and incorporate it into their work.” She adds that this requires the leader to “understand someone else’s perspective and guide them from where they are,” all the while “modeling acceptance and kindness.”   

Finally, leadership requires self-reflection and self-knowledge. Leaders must be able to tune out the noise and, with both confidence and humility, take stock of their progress. The typical adolescent experience is not necessarily characterized by solitude and reflection, but we actively plan moments that will help cultivate an appreciation of those qualities in our students. Reflection and Revision is one of the central Upper Grades Learner Practices, and when we talk about it with students, it’s often in the context of helping them become more independent learners (or demonstrate Ownership Over Learning—another of the key Learner Practices). But as students learn more about themselves, they become better able to share insights, advice, and empathy with others. Put more simply, they demonstrate leadership. For instance, during Cohort Work Time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, it’s not uncommon to see students peer editing each other’s work and classmates helping each other understand challenging math problems. And our twice-yearly Student Led Conferences serve as important checkpoints in students’ growth as leaders

We’re proud of the way we prepare students for life beyond Capitol Hill Day School. Academic preparation is certainly an important part of it, and indeed, we often hear that our alums are well-prepared for the rigors of high school. Where our graduates truly stand out, though, is in their preparation as humans who understand themselves (as much as any teenager can) and are able and willing to make positive contributions to their community. Will they become tomorrow’s leaders of government, business, and academia? Who can say. But we’ll be better off if they do.