Landon, Holton 8th graders learn what it takes to lead
Posted 02/03/2016 02:13PM

Students collaborate for "Leadership 201" symposium

To be a leader, whether of an entire nation or in the much smaller realm of a Middle School social circle, a person must appreciate varying perspectives, understand the value of collaboration, and be willing to stand up for him- or herself and others. These were the lessons eighth graders from Landon and sister school Holton-Arms learned at the "Leadership 201" symposium that Middle School Head Dana Krein, Form II Dean Nancy Osborne and Holton Middle School Head Tony Shawe organized to give students from the two schools a forum to discuss how they can become responsible citizens and leaders in their community.

"We wanted the eighth grade collaboration with Holton to be about interaction and social mindedness, as opposed to the seventh grade collaboration, which tends to be about structure building and engineering," Osborne said. "This year, we wanted to look at the three issues of perspective, collaboration and 'upstanding' in hopes of really energizing the students and allowing them to take charge of their social circles and other social circles they interact with as they [get older]."

"The activities for the Leadership 201 symposium were designed to buttress the Form II ethics curriculum, as well as provide the young men and women with a framework for better understanding the omnipresent subtleties of social interaction that become more pronounced in Upper School," Krein added.

One activity focused on how perspective — the way one views a situation, person or interaction — can be shaped by a number of factors, including race, gender, personal history, mood and even just a little bit of misinformation. The boys and girls watched a video in which six different photographers photographed the same man... but were told different things about his background beforehand. One photographer was told that the man was a self-made millionaire, another that he was an ex-convict, and so on. In the end, the photographers produced six strikingly different portraits clearly influenced by their preconceived notions of the subject. In the discussion that followed, students astutely noted the perils in rushing to judge others.

Another exercise instilled the challenges and value inherent in collaboration. Students split into pairs and sat back to back. One student had to describe an image from a piece of paper he or she was given, and the other student had to try to draw that exact image based on the description. The person drawing could not speak. The person giving instructions could not look at the image being drawn. The students then discussed the challenges in completing the task, how they overcame those challenges, and how to apply the strategies they used to their daily lives. The overwhelming takeaway: People with different perspectives communicate differently, and thus a successful collaboration hinges on the ability to see something from the perspective of another.

The final exercise emphasized that a true leader is an "upstander," which Osborne described as a person who "has the courage to stand up for someone or something, has the courage to share what they think, has the courage to allow their perspective to be known, and has the courage to communicate."

As part of the exercise, the boys and girls watched clips of actors pretending to be injured in public as throngs of passersby did nothing to help. Students recognized that people often failed to act or "upstand" simply because they were nervous or uncomfortable, and deftly suggested that they might avoid similar inaction in their own lives by drawing support from like-minded friends.

"A lot of these situations will likely make you uncomfortable or nervous because you don't know what the outcome will be if you take action, but it's important for there to be someone who stands up," Osborne said. "Especially as you get older and move on to high school, you have to take more responsibility for your actions, your group and the environment around you."

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