Classroom Leadership Roles Activity: A Pathway to Sharing Leadership With Student Teams

Abstract

Providing students with concrete opportunities to practice leadership in the classroom can be challenging. We designed a semester-long activity that shares instructor’s leadership functions in the classroom with students. In the Classroom Leadership Roles Activity, student teams were assigned to specific leadership roles (i.e., efficiency managers, participation facilitators, culture creators, energy leaders, connectors, and advisory board members) and tasked with designing, conducting, and evaluating the effectiveness of influence attempts throughout the semester to fulfill responsibilities associated with their roles. We found that the activity can result in a range of positive outcomes, including enhanced leader identity, improved leadership engagement, and increased classroom learning and engagement. In this instructional innovation article, we provide instructions for how instructors can use and adapt the Classroom Leadership Roles Activity, and we provide evidence of its effectiveness in attaining learning outcomes.