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Article
Developing student leadership through service-learning
Journal of Catholic School Studies
  • Shane D Lavery, University of Notre Dame Australia
Year of Publication
2008
Abstract

Adolescents possess enormous potential as leaders. They have the capacity to become leaders in the workplace, in their families, in the community, and in government.

Increasingly, schools have taken on the important responsibility of the developing leadership in young people. Schools are, what van Linden and Fertman call, “hotbeds of leadership development” (1998, p. 224). For instance, Catholic schools have a commendable reputation for preparing, promoting, developing and nurturing elected student leaders. Fair and just elections, leadership camps, leadership reflection days, mixed school leadership programs, and leadership seminars, all form valid and valuable ways of preparing students for the challenges, responsibilities and joys of leadership (Lavery, 2002).

This article examines two issues: first, it presents an understanding of service as a feasible model of leadership. Second, it proposes an experiential learning style, that of service-learning, as an appropriate method of preparing students for leadership.

Keywords
  • Peer-reviewed,
  • community leadership,
  • social justice
Disciplines
Citation Information
Shane D Lavery. "Developing student leadership through service-learning" Journal of Catholic School Studies Vol. 80 Iss. 2 (2008) ISSN: 1834-7258
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/shane_lavery/15/