Definitely resonate with the idea of school teaching us how to play the game and how I'd optimized for that myself as well for most of my schooling life, even into university.
I think inherently, there will always be limitations to education and its ability to 'teach' something that must be learnt through trial-by-fire.
I guess I wonder if it's possible to teach some of the foundational ingredients, emotional processing, how to cultivate self awareness, and thus relationships with others and yourself, understanding what drives you and what purpose can look like (exemplars, examples) for others, and then getting to puzzle together what it looks like for you. And then make explicit doing so, and different modes of doing so and engaging? I wouldn't have worked for long in the sector as I have if I didn't think that it was possible, but I also think creating scenarios or situations with real stakes is incredibly important to unlock motivation, engagement and experience in doing something that matters.
Thanks for chiming in David! Without giving away too much that will come in upcoming issues, I share a belief that we can "teach" leadership in significant ways - otherwise, why would this newsletter exist? What I realize looking back at my schooling, at least through high school, is that there are so many forces guiding schools toward heavily structured curriculum, programming, individualization, and measurement, that it's hard to create the loose and ambiguous spaces for students that allow for authentic leadership practice. It's not that it doesn't exist, it's just really hard to do well or consistently. Finally when that DOES happen, it still has natural limitations inherent in education for kids. Adult education has different limits and opportunities.
I'd love to know more about examples you know of where school successfully prioritizes conditions for authentic and sustained leadership practice, especially for younger kids. Is there anything that stands out to you?
Definitely resonate with the idea of school teaching us how to play the game and how I'd optimized for that myself as well for most of my schooling life, even into university.
I think inherently, there will always be limitations to education and its ability to 'teach' something that must be learnt through trial-by-fire.
I guess I wonder if it's possible to teach some of the foundational ingredients, emotional processing, how to cultivate self awareness, and thus relationships with others and yourself, understanding what drives you and what purpose can look like (exemplars, examples) for others, and then getting to puzzle together what it looks like for you. And then make explicit doing so, and different modes of doing so and engaging? I wouldn't have worked for long in the sector as I have if I didn't think that it was possible, but I also think creating scenarios or situations with real stakes is incredibly important to unlock motivation, engagement and experience in doing something that matters.
Thanks for chiming in David! Without giving away too much that will come in upcoming issues, I share a belief that we can "teach" leadership in significant ways - otherwise, why would this newsletter exist? What I realize looking back at my schooling, at least through high school, is that there are so many forces guiding schools toward heavily structured curriculum, programming, individualization, and measurement, that it's hard to create the loose and ambiguous spaces for students that allow for authentic leadership practice. It's not that it doesn't exist, it's just really hard to do well or consistently. Finally when that DOES happen, it still has natural limitations inherent in education for kids. Adult education has different limits and opportunities.
I'd love to know more about examples you know of where school successfully prioritizes conditions for authentic and sustained leadership practice, especially for younger kids. Is there anything that stands out to you?