An investigation into how a guided learner leadership programme can foster authentic leadership in a boys' boarding school environment

Abstract

This study is located within the field of Educational Leadership and Management and the research was undertaken in a boys' private boarding school in Grahamstown, South Africa. Learner Leadership within the ELM field of study, has gained much interest in recent times and as the process of democratisation within schools continues to take place, it is important that research efforts be more focused in this area. The lack of learner voice initiatives within South African schools, in spite of policies being in place that encourage it, has created the impression that learner leadership is far more about rhetoric than actual practice. This appears to be the case in private education as well, owing to practices that are reliant on hierarchy and tradition to cement their position within these schools. It was with this in mind that a formative peer mentoring intervention was put in place in a boarding house at St Andrew's College, a private boys' school in Grahamstown, South Africa, with the object of developing authentic leadership in a boarding house context. This study was framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sought to investigate how a guided learner leadership programme could foster authentic leadership in a boys' boarding school context. The intervention consisted of three phases: 1) a pre-intervention questionnaire; 2) a Mentoring Course, during which Grade 12 learners were trained how to be mentors; and 3) a Mentoring Programme, during which Grade 12 learners were each allocated a Grade 8 learner to mentor during the course of the year. Data was collected during all three phases of the intervention and said data was obtained via questionnaires, interviews and from notes kept in an observation journal. The data was analysed inductively and later by using Cultural Historical Activity Theory, which acted as a lens through which data was interpreted. The findings reflected that learners responded well to the Mentoring Course and that they participated as active agents of change. It was during the Mentoring Programme, where contradictions became apparent and where the default to practices associated with hierarchy and tradition became evident. The Mentoring Programme did reflect some positive results, such as learners taking more ownership of the Programme and becoming critical of their own practice as mentors. This led to the further take-up of the Mentoring Programme in other boarding houses at St Andrew's College after the intervention, and the course continues to grow and improve. My recommendations include that broader research be undertaken generally, to understand the role that tradition and hierarchy play, particularly in private schools, so that more authentic learner leadership can be put in place, and to conduct a longitudinal study to establish the success of the Mentoring Programme at St Andrew's College specifically, over time.