Leadership Toolkit

Strategies and approaches for skill development in the classroom

The following section offers some strategies and approaches for skill development in the classroom.  Much of the material on teamwork is covered in the Teamwork Toolkit.  However, the emphasis here is on leadership through teamwork, because leadership can't happen in a vacuum. 

1. Leader's role in a team context: Position Description
2. Leader's role in the four stages of team formation
3. Implications of the four stages of team formation
4. Identifying team roles
5. Conducting team meetings
6. Checklist for students to help them conduct effective meetings
7. Identifying and managing conflict in a team
8. Understanding team dynamics

Leader's role in a team context:  Position Description

At the very beginning of the team formation process, when students have either chosen or been allocated to their teams, ask everyone to draft a job advertisement for the position of Team Leader.  Get them to specify the nature and purpose of the task to be completed by the team, the deadlines to be met, and the personal qualities and abilities necessary for the leader to possess.

Then ask them to break into groups of five (a random formation), pool their notes, and develop a composite job description which can be compared with those from the other groups on the whiteboard in a brainstorming session.  Summarise the most frequently occurring pre-requisites for the role and discuss with the class.  Even if there are no 'applications' for the role of leader, at the very least the group's expectations of that person will be out in the open.

Source: Daft, R.L. (2005). (3rd ed.)  The Leadership Experience.  Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western, pp. 403-405.

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