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Natural Born Leaders: An Exploration of Leadership Development in Children and Adolescents

This research aims to identify core elements of leadership development in children and adolescents. Initial focus groups with student leaders in elementary and high schools suggested key differences in students’ implicit theories of leadership and their identities as leaders. A follow-up survey was constructed to measure these differences. Findings suggest age-based distinctions in students’ implicit understanding of leadership, what constitutes leadership behaviour, who has the capacity to lead, and what kinds of leadership they would like to take on. These distinctions form the basis for a conceptual model illustrating four phases or “stories” of leadership identified by children and adolescents: the task-oriented “helper,” the responsibility-oriented “deputy,” the role-oriented “agent” and the identity-oriented “ambassador.”

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/19162
Date25 February 2010
CreatorsSacks, Robin
ContributorsFerrari, Michel
Source SetsUniversity of Toronto
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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