Perceptions of the Principal’s Role in Leadership Development of Elementary School Students

Abstract

There is a great expectation that schools may contribute in building good and responsible leaders. School leaders must include student participation in school reforms and actions for sustainable improvement by allowing them to play leadership roles. Despite this, the promotion of leadership at the elementary level has been infrequent in most school systems and the principal’s potential in supporting student leadership development at the elementary level has not been deeply investigated. This grounded theory study was conducted in a Christian elementary school in the Philippines to examine the perspective of 12 student leaders and 5 teachers on the principal’s role in the leadership development of students. The results suggest that the principal as an educator, a model, a supporter, and a guardian of the school values, encourages in students a positive image of leadership and their own leadership capacity.