There is much to be learned from the candid comments of young students. Within their straightforward language are complex ideas of what leadership is and is not. To determine students’ beliefs about leadership and the application of these beliefs to schools, interviews were conducted with 28 middle school students. While their perspectives put a new spin on existing theories, they also reveal key elements that are missing. Students described leadership as shared and reciprocal, but this was primarily with teachers. In their eyes, principals manage schools rather than lead them toward visions of critical democracy and instruction that flows from that vision.
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