Education Commons^™

Catholic School Principals: Promoting Student Leadership, Shane D. Lavery, Gregory S C Hine

Shane D Lavery

Adolescents possess enormous leadership potential. They are tomorrow’s leaders in the workplace, the family, the community, and in government. Increasingly, schools have taken on the significant responsibility of nurturing leadership in young people. Schools are, as van Linden and Fertman (1998) note, “hotbeds of leadership development” (p. 224). This article explores the role and function of the secondary school principal in the development of student leadership. Specifically, eight principals of secondary schools in Perth, Western Australia were interviewed about their vision of student leadership and what they believed their role entailed in promoting student leadership at their schools. As a …

Student Leadership In Catholic Schools: A Matter Of Service!, Gregory Hine, Shane D. Lavery

Shane D Lavery

Schools are elementary breeding grounds for student leadership development. School principals, by virtue of their standing in their school, have a pivotal role in facilitating student leadership development initiative s. In essence, they are stewards of student leadership (Lavery & Hine, 2012). This paper examines the notion of student leadership from the standpoint of eight Catholic secondary school principals. It initially explores their perception of the ethos underpinning student leadership. On this point, all principals posited that servant leadership must be the overarching model informing student leadership. The paper then investigates those ways these principals perceived student leadership functioning in …

Beginning The School Principalship In Rural And Remote Catholic Schools In Western Australia, Debra Sayce, Shane D. Lavery

Shane D Lavery

“The only opportunity for a future for kids in the remote community is an education … if it doesn’t happen for them at school … well, it limits their life outcome.”

The sense of vocation and determination expressed by this beginning principal of a remote Catholic school in north Western Australia highlights the importance and relevance of quality education and leadership. The desire to provide the best educational opportunities for young people is strong amongst school leaders. The complexities surrounding remote and rural schooling are great. However, such complexities are further compounded when one is new to the role of …

Religious Educators: Promoting Servant Leadership, Shane D. Lavery

Shane D Lavery

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it proposes that servant leadership is a suitable model of leadership for religious educators. Second, it suggests reasons why religious educators should exercise servant leadership.

The paper briefly considers the history of leadership development, per se. The concept of servant leadership is then explored with particular reference to four Gospel texts: Mk 10:42-45, Mt 23:8-12, Lk 22:24-27; and Jn 13:12-17. Three reasons are then presented as to why religious educators should choose to exercise and model servant leadership for their students. These are: servant leadership is the way Jesus exercised leadership; servant …