Types of Educational Leadership Activities

Just like some children are born to be leaders, others are born to be followers.  Regardless of what your child is born to be, it is still important for him to learn good leadership skills. These will be needed at times throughout life.

• In elementary school children will usually travel around the school building in groups.  Therefore, teachers tend to use line leaders to lead the way whenever such moves are necessary.  The line leader must also model good behavior along the way.  As a line leader, children help teachers and learn responsibility at the same time.


• Student monitors are often used to oversee the classroom whenever the teacher is out of the room.  Usually, this is used during lunch and recess.  Herein children are able to learn both responsibility and leadership skills.  As children get older, they may be used in this manner in younger children’s classrooms.  This teaches them how to communicate between the teacher and the children as an authority figure.


• While many schools have elections for class officials, some will also have smaller elections to give the other children opportunities too.  Usually these elections will take place on a monthly basis in order to determine who will have a position of power in a small matter.  This could include things like taking attendance, reading announcements, writing notes on the board and making other types of minor decisions as to how the classroom operates.  Sometimes these positions are randomly assigned but having an election teaches valuable skills, as does holding the position itself.


• Team activities are important throughout the school years.  These teams are usually randomly assigned in order to assure diversification.  While part of these groups’ children usually will not be working with their friends, so popularity will be meaningless.  Teachers should thus require each group to arrive at its own decision as to who its leader will be.  This will force each group to work together in order to be successful.  It also forces each group to look at one another’s strengths and weaknesses while communicating with people that they may