Learners as Leaders

There have been pockets of good work in student leadership in the past but it's only in recent years that it has begun to be embraced as a part of the national school improvement agenda through citizenship and the development of PHSE in schools and now through the personalised learning and Every Child Matters agendas.

At the John Bramston School ‘Learners as Leaders’ is largely student-driven.  It develops through the School Council or takes the form of learning buddies which is about sharing knowledge or skills; or peer tutoring or mentoring which offers` intangible´ benefits such as increased cohesion of the student group, reassurance about study concerns and increased confidence.  Peers who are the same age or older can act as tutors or other helpers for learners, both the helper and the helped can gain intellectually, socially and emotionally from their experiences. Tutoring is interactive and engaging - it fosters responsibility and gives the less energetic pupil no where to hide. Students with special educational needs can serve as tutors/mentors to younger children, thereby consolidating their own skills and boosting their self-confidence.

Allowing students to shoulder some teacher responsibilities is also a learning opportunity for the student leaders.  Where sessions and workshops are managed by student leaders, the role of the student leader is to help participants in a session to get the most from their learning by thinking through problems for themselves.  Student leaders do not necessarily teach, they need not have any specific knowledge to impart, the emphasis is on student leaders who can facilitate and help others discover the answers for themselves.  In the classroom students also take on leadership responsibilities, including registration and ICT management, classroom administration e.g. merit and uniform monitoring and social event & team organiser.

Assessment is used in the classroom to raise pupils’ achievement. It is based on the idea that pupils will improve most if they understand the aim of their learning, where they are in relation to this aim and how they can achieve the aim (or close the gap in their knowledge).  For effective learning to take place learners need to understand what it is they are trying to achieve – and want to achieve it.  Understanding and commitment follows when learners have some part in deciding goals and identifying criteria for assessing progress.  Communicating assessment criteria involves discussing them with the learners, using terms that they can understand, providing examples of how the criteria can be met in practice and engaging the learners in peer and self assessment.

Becoming self sufficient in their learning empowers students to take greater ownership and responsibility for their own learning, and the learner becomes a partner in learning, not a passive recipient.  For student leaders, motivation, preparation, mastery and presentation skills can grow.  At the John Bramston School with their peers as their audience, students interact in a real environment and raise their own learning standards.