Encouraging Leadership: Copper Canyon Academy Aims to Establish Positive Values

By George Davies, MC

Students who enroll at Copper Canyon Academy typically come from socioeconomically middle- to upper-class families. However, most students coming into our program espouse values that negate what they learned growing up.

As students enter adolescence, they often come to identify with peer cultures that require fitting in with their peers and being part of the crowd. That often means wearing the same fashions, seeking excitement and danger, defying authority, going to parties, getting drunk or high, trashing things or vandalizing property, shoplifting or stealing, engaging in increasingly delinquent behavior and, possibly, serious drug abuse and dependence.

Such values are generally adopted from negative peer groups with whom they identify. To counter this influence, students at Copper Canyon are required to hold themselves and each other accountable for inappropriate behaviors, to associate with others in the community in positive and productive ways, and are discouraged from forming cliques. These requirements can be difficult for many students entering our program.

To help students adapt to these new values, our program incorporates leadership development based on a four-tier level system. As a student progresses through each level, beginning with Level One, she is accorded more privileges along with greater responsibilities. To achieve Levels Three and Four, a student is required to demonstrate leadership skills in the community.

5 Leadership Practices

When a student achieves Level Two, she is given the Student Leadership Manual, which defines leadership in terms of five leadership practices: modeling, inspiring, challenging, enabling and encouraging. The five leadership practices were developed based on 25 years of research by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner:

1. Model the Way: A good leader knows what personal values are important to her and speaks out for them. A good leader's behavior reflects those values and sets an example for others.

2. Inspire a Shared Vision: A good leader understands the needs of others and enlists them in a shared vision. A good leader wants to make things better and inspire others to be the best they can be.

3. Challenge the Process: A good leader seeks personal growth, accepts challenge, is open to new ideas, and is willing to take risks and learn from her mistakes. She is prepared to deal with the stress that accompanies change.

4. Enable Others to Act: A good leader is able to share power with others by collaborating and cooperating with others. A good leader values trust and mutual respect, and when they are present is able to encourage others to take risks and to work toward a common good.

5. Encourage the Heart: A good leader gives full recognition to the accomplishments of others, encouraging and showing appreciation for their efforts. By acknowledging the accomplishments of others, team spirit is sustained.

In the Student Leadership Manual, each practice is defined and examples are provided for how each practice is implemented, as it applies to Copper Canyon's program. Examples of leadership qualities and behaviors primarily came from the school's student council, with contributions from various staff within the program.

After reading the manual, each student has an opportunity to fill out a Student Leadership Practices Inventory and to rate herself on how frequently, or infrequently, she engages in the five practices. The inventory comprises 30 items that refer to specific skills or behaviors related to the five practices. The student rates herself on each item, on a five-point scale, from "rarely or seldom" to "frequently" engaging in these behaviors.

Clarifying Values

Included in the Student Leadership Manual is a values clarification section that requires a student to examine her most important values and compare them with various valued activities that were important to her before attending Copper Canyon. These former activities were typically a function of peer pressure, and this comparison gives girls a sense of what progress they have made since being here.

Values clarification is integral to good leadership. To set a good example, students must have a clear sense of their values to guide them. Inspiring others is based on one's set of values, and enabling others requires the values of trust and respect.

Forming a Student Leadership Plan

While a student is on Level Two, she must formulate a Student Leadership Plan as a requirement for moving onto Level Three. While this plan doesn't get implemented until a student reaches Level Three, students must demonstrate some of these leadership skills while on Level Two as a requirement for moving onto Level Three.

When a student continues to Level Three, she must demonstrate the leadership skills outlined in her Student Leadership Plan. She may again rate herself on the Student Leadership Practices Inventory as an indicator of what progress, or lack thereof, she is making. A major requirement for a student moving onto Level Four is that the leadership skills outlined in her Student Leadership Plan are demonstrated in the community.

Once a student considers herself ready to move to Level Four, she will be evaluated on how well she has executed her Student Leadership Plan. One measure will be based on staff members rating her based on the Observer Leadership Practices Inventory, an instrument quite similar to the Student Leadership Practices Inventory.

On Level Four, a student will continue to be evaluated on her leadership skills as she works toward graduating her program. She will again be rated by staff members on the Observer Leadership Practices Inventory, and these ratings will be considered as the student is evaluated for graduation.

By the time our students graduate, they will have a good understanding of what it means to be a leader at Copper Canyon Academy. The five leadership practices are universal concepts that apply in all circumstances, whether as a "big sister" at Copper Canyon Academy or serving as chairman of the board in a large corporation.