How basic education prepares learners for leadership
You can actually start learning about leadership while in school. That is what I did — looking back to my secondary education Kivaywa Secondary School in the early 1980s.
Kivaywa had a tradition of exposing students to fictional works, right from Form One under the class reader’s sessions. This was when we were introduced to Animal Farm by George Orwell.
In the book, an old pig (Old Major) summoned other animals to a secret meeting at midnight. At the meeting, Old Major expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of life they led under Mr Jones, the human owner of the farm.
He painted a vision of life he thought was appropriate for animals to live. And that life was only possible if they ruled themselves.
Unfortunately, Old Major died a few days after the meeting but the vision he had spelt out was carried on by two other pigs—Napoleon and Snowball—long after he had gone.
This was the first time I was seen in a book, someone holding spellbound, other animals and giving a long-range vision about a life different from the one they lived.
I saw illustrations of leadership in the other works we read. I saw in the books a few characters, shaping the conduct of other characters. I came to the conclusion that society has two different sets of people: leaders and the led.
My interest in leadership has not waned. It has increased, instead. I have seen the influence of leaders not just in Literature books, but also in public and private institutions.
Leaders provide clarity of purpose, and motivate and guide their institutions to realise their mission.
This is a fact of life. An organisation cannot move without the guiding hand of a man or woman holding its hands.
Political philosophers have affirmed the role of leaders in society and the various institutions in it.
The reason we have education and training institutions to nurture leaders is that leaders are the prime movers of institutions and societies.
What I have found interesting is some of the institutions go to great novels as aids in teaching leadership.
Harvard School of Business, and the US Military Academy at West Point, for example, have developed courses based on great works of fiction—the novel, play and poetry—to expose certain insights about leadership to their students.
Knowledge of human nature, good judgement and self-knowledge are very important in leadership. They are elusive but very important ingredients to the health, stability and tenacity of a leader and organisations. They determine the atmosphere or the culture of organisations.
Ultimately, what matters to an organisation, what moves people and organisations are the words and conduct of leaders or those they look to for direction.
Beyond simply being conspicuous symbols of any institutions, leaders are centres of responsibility, decision and action, American philosopher Sidney Hook observes in his book The Hero in History.
The cradle for preparing the successive pool of leaders in primary and secondary education institutions. Higher Education and training institutions, as well as military training institutions, refine what basic education institutions began some 12 years earlier.
It is the reason secondary schools which offered Cambridge Exams had well-stocked libraries with books on general knowledge to enable students to read great fiction and nonfiction works in preparation for the life’s opportunities that awaited them.
In the formative years, all society needs to expose all children and youth are examples of leadership in action: in great fictional and nonfictional works.
To prepare authentic leaders let’s continue exposing young people to great works of art.
— The writer is Communications Officer, Ministry of Education
