Abstract
Student leadership development is often touted as an important aspect of character development in schools. However, many school leaders find themselves in positions of responsibility without a few models of student leadership to help conceptualize their approach. While it is easy to say that they can learn this on the job, there is a benefit in adopting a systematic approach to leadership development. This chapter documents the reflection of two student leaders throughout 2012–2013, and the integration of well-being concepts in their leadership style at St. Peter’s College, Adelaide. It reports on an Appreciative Inquiry Summit the student leaders designed and delivered after a consultation with Martin Seligman, David Cooperrider, and Lea Waters. This chapter is a case study of their leadership experience and demonstrates the process they adopted to contribute to the school’s vision and mission throughout the year. John Vrodos and Tom McNeil were Captain and Vice-captain of St. Peter’s College, Adelaide in 2013. From the outset and throughout the year, these student leaders decided to integrate well-being and positive psychology approaches in their leadership. This chapter is a co-authored reflection of their experiences in 2013, with particular reference to a National Student Leadership Summit the boys hosted. Student leadership has long been a feature of St. Peter’s College, Adelaide. The origins of the prefect structure can be linked to the educational philosophy of Dr. Thomas Arnold that swept through the British Empire at the height of colonial expansion. With the rise of Victorian England, it was natural that colonial versions of the great English public schools, like St. Peter’s College, would adopt this approach, drawing on the experience of schools such as Eton, Winchester, Harrow, and Rugby.
We acknowledge this chapter was written with the support of with Dr Mathew White, Professor Lea Waters, Mr. Sam McKinney, and Mr. Simon Murray. We thank Professor Martin Seligman, Professor David Cooperrider and Michelle McQuaid for their feedback on our plans.
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Acknowledgements
We had the support of a lot of people to make the National Student Leadership Summit happen and we would like to recognize the support of Simon Murray, (Headmaster), Sam McKinney (Head of Senior School), David Scott (Assistant Head of Senior School), Tracy McNamara (Marketing and Communications Manager), Paul Brown (Head of Boarding), Dr Mathew White (Director of Well-being and Positive Education), Fiona Gallan, Kelly Bray, Associate Professor Lea Waters (Melbourne Graduate School of Education), Jane Hogarth, Jason Haseldine, Professor Martin Seligman and Professor David Cooperrider. Since writing this chapter the National Student Leadership Summit has continued to grow. In 2015 the 4th Summit welcomed 113 student leaders from 33 schools and was facilitated by Samuel Beer (Captain 2015) and Alasdair McCall (Vice-Captain 2015).
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Appendix A: Letter to School Leaders
Appendix A: Letter to School Leaders
National Student Leadership Summit 2013
In 2013, St Peter’s College will host a National Student Leadership Summit for students from Government, Catholic and Independent schools across Australia, inspired by the mission and vision of the inaugural South Australian event in 2012.
In saying this, we would like to invite your School Captain and Vice-Captain to attend this conference, to be held at St Peter’s College from Saturday 9 March until Monday 11 March 2013. We ask you to consider sending your School Leaders and include the dates as part of your 2013 planning. We will be writing to you in mid-January with confirmation of all logistics.
The Summit will be a Year 12 led initiative and designed to unlock the energy of young Australian Leaders. We believe that empowering student voice is an essential part of great leadership. The objectives of the Summit are:
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to harness the creativity and energy of student leaders across the nation
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to learn from each other and document the aspirations we have for the communities we serve
The Summit will be based around a series of questions including:
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What are you most proud of about your School?
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What are your greatest strengths?
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What are you most exciting opportunities as a student leader in 2013?
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What would successful implementation of these opportunities look like?
The outcomes from this National Student Leadership Summit will include:
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The ability for your school leaders to be able to undertake a similar program
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A conference package of resources
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Increased level of self-awareness
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Strategies for student leaders to reinforce positive relationships in your school community
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Training in methods for critical decision making
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A heightened awareness of each participant’s “moral compass”
The output of the Summit will be a overview summarising the views of the participants and will be delivered to key leaders throughout the Australia. As part of the Summit, there will be a dinner held on the Sunday evening at St Peter’s College. For this function, we are fortunate to have Matthew Cowdrey OAM, one of Australia’s greatest Olympians, as a guest speaker.
Yours sincerely
John Vrodos
School Captain
Tom McNeil
School Vice-Captain
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© 2015 The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter trading as St Peter's College
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White, M., Vrodos, J., McNeil, T. (2015). Student Leadership, Well-Being and Service: Integrating Appreciative Inquiry, Strengths and Leadership. In: White, M., Murray, A. (eds) Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education. Positive Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9667-5_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9667-5_8
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