Understanding,evaluating and assessing what students learn from leadership activities: student research in Woodlea Primary

Abstract

Student involvement in leadership activities is now common in English schools. It is generally assumed to have beneficial learning outcomes and there is some research which suggests that this is the case. However, there is still work to do to detail these learning outcomes − and to assess them. I present one case in which primary school students researched what they learned from leadership activities. I then illustrate how these learnings could be amenable to student-led monitoring and tracking and thus formative assessment. I argue that adult school leaders need to find time to work with students on assessing student leadership and that such work might provide experience useful for other pedagogical changes.