In many school settings, character education is something done TO students. With iLead, instead, it is something students do FOR each other, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Think of walking past an advisory class doing iLead and seeing six kids sitting in a circle discussing a scenario. Someone is reading the scenario while another offers up an opening question, and before you know it, someone is passionately defending what integrity means even when no one is watching. The teacher, meanwhile, is on the sidelines facilitating the discussion, but that doesn’t stop him or her from enjoying the show.
These images capture the leadership influence process and exemplify the best way for students to learn leadership: by interacting with each other week after week instead of just receiving definitions from their teachers.
iLead is a K-12 leadership curriculum based on Dr. John C. Maxwell’s leadership principles and then adapted for student leadership and social-emotional learning by Dr. Tim Elmore. It is a comprehensive, high-quality curriculum designed to give students the values, confidence, and life skills they need to be successful leaders now and in the future.
Why the Teacher’s Role Gets Easier, Not Harder
Teachers often find that the student-centered nature of iLead actually makes their role in the class much easier, rather than harder, as they have to do less performing and more facilitating, which is a much needed relief considering their busy schedules. Also, it has been proven that students learn values and skills much better when they have to teach and challenge each other.
Building Skills for the Long Haul
While it’s great to have an assembly that gets kids talking and thinking, it’s unlikely to have much of an impact beyond the day or so. That’s why iLead is designed as a year-long sequential curriculum, with each lesson building on the last and providing the foundation and scaffolding needed for students to develop their character and leadership skills. Instead of taking snapshots of leadership, you want to start cultivating a garden that grows throughout the year.
Connecting Sixth Graders and Seniors to Core Values
Sixth graders and twelfth graders have very different needs in terms of learning and practicing leadership skills. That’s why iLead is designed for three grade bands rather than providing a “one size fits all” solution for every grade in K-12. While sixth graders learn about leadership through relatable decision making scenarios during their discussions, middle schoolers practice their self-leadership skills through a roundtable discussion format that explores their emerging identities as leaders. High schoolers learn about more nuanced aspects of leadership, and the lessons help them develop the skills to apply what they’ve learned in leadership roles in college, the workforce, and the community.
Each grade band uses discussion prompts that use relatable imagery, but the conversations and decision making scenarios grow more complex as the students get older.
Flexibility to Fit Your School’s Needs
There are so many different school structures, and that’s why we offer different implementation options for iLead, such as using it as a whole group advisory, as an enhancement to a CTE program, or even as a leadership club that meets after school for those interested in diving deeper. You can also see why a principal, a counselor, and a CTE director might all look at this curriculum and see very different opportunities for implementation.
Tailored to Different Perspectives
When teachers look at iLead, they love the flexibility in the program. They love having the facilitator’s guide, a short training video, and then being able to let the students do most of the work without having to do any special certification or training. In most cases, this is all it takes to get a yes from teachers.
Principals care about character education, attendance, graduation rates, and making sure they aren’t adding too much to teachers’ plates. Superintendents care about other districts adopting iLead, and making sure it’s adaptable to their needs as well as meeting state requirements. That’s why iLead is designed the way it is, and why it has such a lasting impact on schools, rather than being a one-year or one-time experience.
Schools want to be able to foster long-term leadership influence processes and encourage students to become active members of their community and the future leaders of this country. That’s what iLead does and that’s why it’s been adopted by schools around the country.
That’s what iLead is really all about: student centered leadership influence rather than teacher centered leadership instruction.
Now that you’ve seen how the curriculum works, check out growingleaders.com to see more about the iLead curriculum and discover how your school can implement it. If you’re not quite ready to implement it yet, don’t worry-we offer grade band overviews for every grade band in the curriculum so you can see which part of the program might be a good fit for your school.
