Leadership: Start with Self
At St Stithians Boys’ College, not only do we prioritize Leadership Development, but we pride ourselves on it being accessible to every single one of our boys. The program sits within our Leadership In Action (LIA) commons period every week. This is a fundamental differentiator for the Boys’ College. It is a unique offering; we are passionate about it, and we believe that we ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to creating staff and students who are serving leaders in their respective communities. The underpinning philosophy of our leadership programme is the concept of serving leadership that finds its foundation in the Jesuit Leadership Principles. We believe an identifying trait of our boys is their ability to use their strengths to enable others to rise!
The structure of the Leadership In Action modules is incremental. We deliver self-awareness modules in the foundational years of grade 8 and 9. In grade 10 and 11 we introduce aspects of leadership theory. The latter parts of grade 11 and 12 are for practicing leadership skills, often amongst themselves and certainly alongside the juniors to create alignment with our mentor-mentee system.
The structure is also flexible enough to allow for adaptation to meet the needs of the boys where they are. We have incorporated positive masculinity education, mentorship, and social justice education to name a few. There is undoubtedly some link and overlap with the Life Orientation curriculum, however, this whole-school time allows for a more cohesive approach and the opportunity to practice learned skills.
With the assistance of our psychological and wellness centre we have been able to include aspects of positive psychology into the curriculum of LIA and pedagogical approaches. The PERMA-V framework for driving thriving individuals in an educational space is a powerful tool introduced by Mr Sean Tunmer and his team. It has been used extensively to educate the boys on how to leverage their best, and included in the modules, are sessions focussed on preparing our boys for their camps in grade 9 and 10.
The LIA space also allows for focussed Masculinity Education. The contemporary term “redefining masculinity” has been coined to address hegemonic masculinity norms. However, in redefining a complex concept such as masculinity there are aspects that will not fit into this new definition. This is not an inclusive approach. Therefore, what we are trying to inculcate in our boys is broadening our understanding of masculinity to include all. We are in the business of educating and building better boys, in all their shapes and sizes, all their complexities and perfections. It would be disingenuous and improper to uphold one gold standard of what a man looks like. We are stronger together because of our diversity. This is directly aligned with the Boys’ College Portrait of a Saints Knight.
In addition to our formalized leadership development program, we are also proud to be able to offer our boys opportunities outside of the College environment. We have had groups of students involved in the Gordon Institute of Business Science’s (GIBS) Spirit of Youth program, Rosebank Rotary Senior Youth Leadership Course, Johannesburg Junior Council and City of Johannesburg Junior Mayor. These opportunities supplement our other internal structures of student leadership such as the Student Representative Council, Sports Captains, boys elected into positions on school committees, etc.
A hugely important, and defining, characteristic of our school is the premium placed on Student Leadership in the form of Prefects. We have a dedicated group of staff who work incredibly hard with our elected group of student leaders every year to advance each of their portfolios. We are currently involved in the process of electing our 2024 Student Leadership. This has been an exhaustive process involving two rounds of voting, multiple interviews, and panel discussions. This dynamic and transparent process has enabled us to create a leadership group that is more representative of our student body. These leaders play a pivotal role in helping the staff to lead the Boys’ College whilst also role-modeling their peers.
We continue to strive to provide an inspiring and foundational offering to all our boys whilst being reflective and in touch with their needs and the demands of an ever-changing world.
#HappyFulfilment #MakingAWorldofDifference #PassionDriven #SaintsExcellence #InspiringExcellence #PurposeInspired #StrongerOneAndAll
