According to the U.S. Department of Education, youth development is a process that prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated series of experiences that help them gain skills and competencies. Youth leadership gives students necessary experiences to enhance their ability to navigate their communities.<\/span><\/p>\n Leadership opportunities are often deferred to older students or even adulthood, with the assumption that these skills will be naturally developed later in life. Prioritizing leadership opportunities during the formative years of childhood is the best time to enable efficacious leaders to emerge and for students to build upon competencies that will help them for the rest of their lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When children play, they have the opportunity to try on new skills and experience new ways of navigating situations in low pressure settings. Without the fear of failure, students are able to problem solve and grow into these skills. Unfortunately, leadership opportunities in elementary schools are especially rare. Playworks\u2019 mission of improving the well-being of <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> children aims to specifically address this.<\/span><\/p>\n The benefits of youth leadership are bountiful. Students have the opportunity to define skills that will aid them later on in life. These include decision-making, critical thinking, relationship building, adaptability, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n Not only are there numerous benefits for students, but there are gains for teachers as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More confidence and motivation among students lead to increased self-efficacy, allowing them to better complete assignments, handle stress, and strengthen relationships. Academic success, in turn, flourishes, and peer to peer interactions become more productive. The distribution of student responsibility also provides teachers support with group management.<\/span><\/p>\n Although the many benefits of leadership development are well documented and acknowledged, it cannot exist without the opportunity. Leadership opportunities must be provided to the student by the adult, which is where we as education professionals come in. Creating space in the curriculum for these opportunities is critical to enabling students to become effective and successful leaders. This could mean introducing classroom roles, delegating small responsibilities, or implementing a youth leadership program. Playworks is committed to youth leadership development and offers many resources, initiatives, and programs to facilitate it.<\/span><\/p>\n Playworks\u2019 Junior Coach program offers elementary students in 4th and 5th grade the opportunity to be leaders for younger students on the playground. Junior Coaches facilitate games for students in grades K-3 and serve as playground leaders by sharing playground safety and engagement\u00a0 responsibilities alongside recess staff. Implementing a program like this into the school curriculum is easy, and data shows that it is worth the investment. Last school year, 84% of students in the Junior Coach program nationwide experienced improvements, leading to skill retention and greater preparation later in life.<\/span><\/p>\n The Junior Coach program begins with a series of training led by a Playworks Pro Trainer. These trainers travel from school to school delivering experiential learning experiences for both students and staff. Staff learn about the importance of leadership development opportunities. Students learn about the expectations and responsibilities of being a Junior Coach. This includes lessons on equipment management, game facilitation, and conflict resolution on the playground.<\/span><\/p>\n Our trainers see how the program is received first-hand. Teachers are very receptive to the program, with some telling me that it is easy to implement and more effective than previous programs, in that students are actually excited to participate. Students are eager to take ownership of their newfound responsibility and their experiences on the playground. Younger students are engaged in more play, and enjoy having a peer mentor with them on the playground.<\/span><\/p>\nLeadership opportunities in elementary schools are especially rare.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Play can be a great equalizer<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Increasing youth leadership opportunities lead to better academic and behavioral outcomes in students.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Students who take ownership of their experiences drive overall success in the classroom.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Kids need the opportunity to flourish\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Youth leadership in your community<\/strong><\/h3>\n
It is easy to implement and sustain<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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