Episode 116: Empowering African-American Students with Foundational Leadership Skills

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Welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped with to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This podcast is at the intersection between education research and parental actions. If you're looking to find out more about the current trends, issues and themes in education that could affect you or your children, and you want to know the specific actions you can take to support and advocate for your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education topics is important to you, so keep listening. In this episode, I'll be discussing an important success skill for K12 African American leadership skills. And just so you know, I'll be using African American and Black interchangeably throughout this discussion. How would you rate your child's leadership potential? Leadership skills development is an area in elementary schools that's not given the attention it deserves. Leadership skills can be taught to children as early as first grade, yet many teachers don't allocate sufficient time for this skill development. I uncover why leadership skills are important for African American students. I explore why these skills are critical for academic and life success, as well as how these skills can be developed. I reached out to an educator about this topic and I'll share her perspective as the Chief Operations Officer and strategist for a company that's in in the trenches empowering students, let's untangle this One important aspect of developing leadership skills involves communication, especially communication that occurs in ways that are clear, concise, credible, sophisticated, and accessible to others. This is particularly important for students who are still learning how to communicate effectively as new leaders. There is one particular framework, the social skills model, that focuses on specific elements of leader communication skills that can be developed in middle school and high school students. These Basic communication skills become the building blocks for more sophisticated levels of communication. The three basic forms of interpersonal communication include sending, receiving, and regulating the expression of messages. These communication skills operate within the emotional nonverbal domain and the verbal social domain. The emotional nonverbal skills involve the ability to send, receive, and regulate emotional and other nonverbal messages. While the verbal social skills are the underlying building blocks of social intelligence. The social communication skills allow leaders to not only communicate accurately in face to face virtual meetings, but also in written exchanges. These face communication skills interact with one another and balance should be established. For example, emotional expressiveness should be tempered with emotional control in order to avoid coming across too strongly as overly emotional. At the same time, strong emotional control without emotional expression leads to the impression that someone might be emotionally distant or unhealing. Using an assessment such as the Social Skills Inventory, a student learning to develop his or her leadership skills can realize what their communication skills, strengths and weaknesses are so that he or she can develop ways to strengthen deficiencies as well as capitalize on strengths. One of the ways to begin the process of developing leadership skills in particular communication skills is to have students complete a self assessment of their communication skills. This assessment would include questions such as Are there areas of communication that are difficult for you? And have individuals close to you pointed out any areas where your communication falls short. To improve social expressiveness and verbal communication skills, students can take a course in public speaking and practice giving prepared and spontaneous videotaped presentations such as a leader giving a motivational speech or giving feedback to another student. Additionally, social sensitivity which is developed through observational skills involves understanding and adhering to the social norms for particular groups in order to better get along with different types of people. The reason for the focus of social expressiveness and social skills is because leadership is a complex social role. Assisting students to analyze what they did in a particular situation and then reflecting on how it was received by others is a discussion based exercise that can lead students to becoming more proactive when going into leadership situations. Preparing for different social scenarios and outcomes can help build students self confidence which makes them look more poised and in charge. The most consistent skills predictors of effective leadership are a combination of social expressiveness and social control. These two social skills are related to a student leader's ability to effectively act in the role of leaders. Leadership development programs need to include the following beliefs that 1. Leadership can be learned 2. Leadership capacity is a developmental process 3. All students can develop leadership. 4. Educational institutions need to seek developing leadership capacity in all students. 5. Diverse strategies and Diverse approaches for diverse students to learn about leadership development are essential and 6 the intentional design and assessment of student leadership programs is vital. Leadership skills for elementary students often get lumped into social, emotional learning, and social skills curricula. Many early elementary school students, especially first graders, associate leadership with being first due to the covenant job of being a line leader. This association creates an inaccurate understanding of leadership in young learners. Making a distinction between between regulating emotions and exhibiting leadership qualities can be a critical component of shaping early learners. The fact of the matter is that leadership skills aren't taught enough to early elementary school students. Learning to explicitly address problems and accept feedback about themselves is where leadership development begins. Although young children often hear others redirecting them or getting giving them reasons why they can or cannot do something, teaching them to identify the problem and equipping them with the leadership skills to solve that problem can be more meaningful over time. Developing Effective Student Leaders in Middle School and High School the grades in which leadership typically becomes more of a taught topic really depends on exposure in elementary school. For young learners, a working definition of a leader would be someone who sets the example of doing the right thing, even if it's not what he or she wants to do or what anyone else is doing. One classroom teacher made some impactful changes in her classroom teaching first graders a more concrete example of leadership. For example, she created a reverse line leader where the line leader walks at the end of the line to make sure that everyone stays with the group. This small shift teaches students the importance of leaders putting others first. Another thing that she did was create neighbor cleanup in which students help tidy up the area of the student sitting next to them rather than their own space. Accountability for students own mess has its merits. Yet the idea of service servant leadership, as well as doing one's part for the good of the group, lends itself to shaping leadership skills. And one final thing that she did was setting an example through creating a collaborative activity with another class. This teacher's first graders elected to read to preschool or kindergarten students, thus giving them an opportunity to lead younger students in a reading activity. Collaborating with different grade levels allows students an opportunity to set an example and learn from students of varying ages. The teacher noted that only after a few weeks of putting these ideas in practice, she noticed that her students were taking more initiative on their own practicing problem solving skills before seeking help and more readily helping their classmates instead of simply complaining about a problem. Students in high school and college indicated in another recent study that parents and elders racially socialized them to be self sacrificing leaders who used values, respect, and honor to preserve Black culture, people, and traditions. Parents of students often see themselves as part of a Black collective that requires their input and service. Racial socialization is the task Black parents share with all parents, providing for and raising children, but also including the responsibility of raising physically and emotionally healthy children who are Black. In a society in which being Black has negative connotations, this cultural transmission of Black values and beliefs not only serves as a source of prideful information about what it means to be Black, but it also acknowledges racial socialization messages that create lifelong memories and which make up, quote, unquote who I am stories. They essentially form the foundation of African American children's identities that positively shape shape their worldview. The cultural relevance of family influence is central to Black students. Holistic growth that raises their academic outcomes, scholarly self esteem and validation of intellectual ability and entitlement to attend public schools and colleges. Child, child, parent, child, elder child, and child environmental interactions establish the foundation. Racial socialization Perspective to be racially resilient is a key characteristic of developing leadership skills for Black children. Leadership Potential Leadership is also about giving back as well as paying it forward. Training Black students in developing leadership skills is essential for this nation. This training should start at an early age and should begin with identifying students with leadership potential. A recent study that implemented a leadership development training program for children aged 9 to 11 posited that leadership potential in childhood and adolescence is the basis for developing leadership characteristics in later stages. The author further argued that children's environmental characteristics and early experiences are the building blocks of their future behaviors. Characteristics that could identify leadership potential include mental and social skills, verbal language skills, problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, and adapting to new situations, as well as creativity, imagination, sensitivity to the feelings of others, and self confidence. Classifications of leadership skills fall into four basic cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, business management skills, and strategic skills for problem solving. It seems that education programs for students with leadership potential in schools are insufficient. It's been noted that students who take part in team games display more leadership skills than students who don't take part in playing a team sport. Additionally, students who are given more leadership opportunities during the education process improved their leadership skills. Developing leadership skills can be taught and strengthened through practice. Leadership training programs improve leadership knowledge, skills and abilities. Let's listen to Dr. Sheikha Houston, Chief operations officer and strategist for Create and Educate, as well as being a former teacher and principal, as she explains why leadership skills are vital for Black children. Have you had a chance to check out my interactive expert on my website. There are some great conversations and questions going on there. You can check it out at liberation through education.com forward/ask me anything. Again, check out the questions and conversations happening there. Ationthrougheducation.com forward/ask me anything.

Hi, I am Dr. Sheika Houston. And there is definitely a necessity for a certain type of leadership skill in order for black children to be successful in schools. And I say that because black children are the most underserved demographic in public school systems. This is due to 80% of the educational force, the workforce being white women. 80% of teachers are white women. This is due to culturally relevant teaching not being a priority and it is also banned in some states. And this is also due to a whitewashed curriculum that black children don't see themselves in and it's really hard for them to connect to. So the skill set that is required for black children to be successful, and this is from the leadership of a school. These leaders would have to be empowered enough to just even want to do something about all of the aforementioned points that I just made. You would have to be an empowered leader to go against the grain in many places to actually want to do something about all of those things. This leader would have to be resourceful to know that there are places where black children are performing at high levels. These are in African Centered study courses or African Centered curriculums. These are in the 90, 90, 90 studies where 90% of the students were from poverty, 90% African American, but 90% proficient on state testing and multiple other places where this is being done. But you would have to be resourceful enough to seek that information out. And then you would have to be someone who can inspire children to be reprogrammed, to believe in themselves and their own abilities. You would have to be someone who would have to inspire teachers to also believe in children and their own teaching abilities to make sure that they know they can do these same things with children. And you would have to be able to inspire a community to to see children as though they are.

Leadership development is also an area that is applicable for at risk students, an important factor in motivating failing students to reach their maximum potential. One school principal designed a program that invited the students to a leadership committee. It was a group that met on a regular basis, worked collaboratively, and effected real change. An opportunity like this was rare because it began to transform the mentality of at risk students from quote unquote losing to leading. The intent of the leadership committee members was to mentor other at risk students so that they would become more engaged in school because they now had a role in helping others succeed. The at risk students on the leadership committee began to come across as inspired, motivated, valued and respected. Many started to attend school regularly and even recruited other struggling students to join the cause. They felt that they were finally being listened to, that they had a voice and a purpose. This case study displayed the hallmarks of a leader standing up for others and helping them succeed. Now let's move from listening to this discussion to applying it. With that in mind, how does what I've just discussed apply to you? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic. Many of the qualities of leadership are cultivated in the home at an early age. Qualities like problem solving ability, communication skills, self confidence, sense of responsibility and moral character, to name a few. Leadership skills are necessary for children who aspire to run their own businesses one day, to be social justice activists in college, to be community activists in their neighborhoods, or to lead teams in their career environment when they enter the workforce. To do these things displays a sign of leadership ambition. Here's the thing. Not every child aspires to be a leader. The responsibility is not something that all children want to undertake. And that's okay. Some are happy just being followers. Leaders need to have followers. But I believe that there are more than enough African American children with leadership potential that can step up and take on the responsibility of being leaders of the future. It's important for families of color to raise their children holistically, aware of what it means to exist in a world where racism occurs. This is especially true and is a prime responsibility of black families. This helps to develop a framework for their leadership development, especially leadership that lends itself to advocating for social justice. Parents provide their children with the social environment, influence and the way their children view the value of education. This point needs to be emphasized. Freedom is not free. It requires the application of social justice to eradicate racism and in every context in this nation, Black families need to understand that power and politics are at the center of all teaching and learning and the application of household knowledge as applied to situations outside of the home becomes a process that interrupts the transmission of official knowledge and dominant culture ideologies. So I encourage your children children to get involved in team sports or volunteer activities such as Girl Scouts or church related youth groups so that they can begin developing leadership characteristics through a social activity. If given the opportunity to lead, inspire them to step up by letting them know the value of having strong leadership skills. Here are this episode's takeaways One important aspect of developing leadership skills involves communication, especially communication that occurs in ways that are clear, concise, credible, sophisticated, and accessible to others. This is particularly important for students who are still learning how to communicate effectively as new leaders. The most consistent, skilled predictors of effective leadership are a combination of social expressiveness and social control. These two social skills are related to a student leader's ability to effectively act in the role of leaders. Leadership development programs need to include the following beliefs that 1 leadership can be learned 2 leadership capacity is a developmental process, 3 all students can develop leadership 4 educational institutions need to seek developing leadership capacity in all students five Diverse strategies and diverse approaches for diverse students to learn about leadership development are essential and 6 the intentional design and assessment of student leadership programs is vital. Training Black students and developing leadership skills is essential for this nation. This training should start at an early age and should begin with identifying students with leadership potential. Leadership potential in children and adolescents is the basis for developing leadership characteristics in later stages. Children's environmental characteristics and early experiences are the building blocks of their future behaviors. Do you agree with what's been discussed in this episode in relation to the importance of leadership skills for Black children children? If so, go to my podcast website@k12educationuntangle.buzzsprout.com and leave me a text message about your thoughts on this topic. That's k12educationuntangled.buzzsprout.com Go to episode Description and click on Send me a text message link. Again, it's K12 EducationUnTangle Buzzsprout and leave me a text message today. Remember to share my podcast with anyone you think you find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, family and community about my podcast. Thanks for listening today. 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