Moulding leaders

I  once observed a potter making beautiful pots. He shaped the clay, patiently, with skill and a clear idea of what the pot will eventually look like. If you think about it leaders, too, are like potters with the skill to transform something out of nothing as they develop the potential of people and capitalise from it. Leading is a process of inspiring, guiding, motivating, attracting and directing effectively. And all this results in change — change in society, change in thinking, change in environment and a change in attitudes, ultimately. But where does this leadership come from? Who produces leaders? Producing future leaders is the responsibility of our education system. For this reason alone our curriculum, school system in fact the overall education system should be designed in a way that the learners here are provided with an opportunity to exhibit their talents and polish their leadership skills. Furthermore, our curriculum and classrooms should be learner-centred, providing space to the learners to grow and grant them the opportunity to work with a diverse people around them. But learners here are passive partners in the teaching and learning process as they are more like followers than leaders. Hence they are expected to follow the instructions given to them by their teachers. Their mutely following our instructions makes us proud as we see this as a mark of respect for ourselves. But is this really going to help the children move ahead in life or is it going to hold them back and destroy their hidden self. Analysing it from the point of view of the students, we need to change our attitude. We should jump from dictatorship to the democratic approach where students are considered active partners in the teaching and learning process. Further, we need to provide them opportunities through which they are able to enhance their leadership skills. Following are some unique strategies through which the schools can help their learners practice their leadership skills inside and outside the school. Teaching the underprivileged The students can be encouraged to visit orphanages or childcare centres for general knowledge or language sessions with the children there as these children may not have much access to quality educational facilities. The activity requires being prepared to answer all the children's queries by inculcating a sense of responsibility and planning which happen to be key leadership qualities. Social service programmes Such activities need good planning and execution abilities. The social service programmes may include blood donation drives, taking care of the elderly, lending a helping hand to the disabled, etc. All these events and the likes can be connected with the social studies curriculum of a school. Organising school events As perhaps the finest leadership development strategy, school managements may encourage students to help organise events such as sports day, cultural programmes, music events, singing competitions, quizzes, debate or felicitation programmes. These are no one-man tasks and require students to work as a team. There would be a need to appoint leaders for every small task and the teachers can guide these leaders by making valuable suggestions or giving useful tips on how to accomplish the work. Helping the environment There are still many among us who are actually unaware of environment protection measures. The students can appeal to such citizens to save water and suggest ways of keeping the surroundings clean and tidy by adopting effective waste disposal measures. Tree plantation programmes can be a good activity where the students can be divided into groups with a leader appointed for each. The leader will guide the students on how to proceed with the tree planting. At the same time, they can also prepare charts and banners which will give the people some information about the importance of planting and saving trees. Sports activities Playing sports which may involve teams can be great leadership activities for students. The team with a good leader chalking out effective strategies at the right time will obviously win the challenge. Thus sports activities can be considered the best way to develop unity and hard work among the participating students. Securing the future of our country asks for an investment in our students, the future leaders of this land. Educators need to act just like those skilled potters knowing just what to do to make the best pottery. The writer is a master's student in education.