By: Lirio E. Baloy
Pagsanjan Sub-Office, SDO Laguna
Francisco Benitez Memorial School
Learners are now back in school. Most of them were excited to feel like being real students again and be able to participate in activities that would mold them to become better individuals; however, the two years of the pandemic impacted various parts of our lives. Student-leaders leading in this uncertain time is one thing to consider as their leadership characteristics are to be put to a test. The question is what makes a student leader in the new normal?
Student-leaders who know their strengths, values, goals, and dreams are one key feature to functioning and leading people under them. To become a leader, they should have the right set of values and the ability to influence others. They should have the will to create an open-minded and valuable mindset to construct better decisions for the school and the community. Through learning how to assess and become critical in making decisions, they can maximize their strengths to be able to contribute for the better.
Being confined inside the four corners of their homes, the social skills of students have greatly been affected. In being a leader, collaboration is a fundamental concept as this is an aspect of unity. Events and decisions could be compromised without this. Yet, a good support system is a must. To be surrounded by student-leaders who share the same mission and vision of delivering the best service to the school and community, they could learn to be open to each other.
To be able to lead group discussions in an event and have everyone freely share their throughs is one of the unique traits a student-leader must possess. In this kind of activity, each gets to learn and get to know their thoughts on a specific topic and make democratic decisions – making each feel heard and involved in the decision-making process
Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa – the Department of Education’s core values are among the leadership characteristics that a student leader must have. These ideals are significant to teamwork, productivity, and students’ overall passion to contribute to the betterment of our schools.
Passion plus purpose is equal to an inspired student leader. These young people must learn how to evaluate themselves – to be able to create a culture of taking part in endeavors, collaboration, and building healthy communities inside the classrooms and even outside of it. Let us not forget the fact that these opportunities provide them with essential skills that could be useful to them until they become adults.
As educators, we must learn how to respect the process. We know that the true power of learning is the idea that being vulnerable in this time of pandemic made us stronger as persons. We don’t have all the answers to the questions but we can discover them with each other.
With trust, support, and encouragement, every young person can become a leader in the new normal. All we need to do is to develop their potential and allow them to do so. We have to invest in them as it can determine their future in our society. Let us empower them to become better student-leaders today to become community, country, or even world leaders tomorrow.
Source: https://www.ednc.org/perspective-leading-in-the-new-normal-a-mini-series-on-school-leadership-during-covid-19/
