YOUTH LEADERHIPDEVELOPMENT
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SYLFF LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE: DEVELOPING YOUTH LEADERSHIP

Adolescence is a period in time marked by change. Youth are faced with many
development challenges, physically, psychologically as well as socially. An
experience which may result in additional and pressure. It is also during thisstage that young people form closer bonds with their peers which in some cases
may take precedence over relationships with parents and caregivers. Adolescentsis a time when young people establish their autonomy and sense of self.

Morojele, Myers, Townsend, Lombard, Plüddemann, Carney, Petersen Williams,Padayachee, Nel, & Nkosi (2013) suggested that it is also during this time that
other challenges such as tobacco, alcohol and other drug use, mental healthproblems, sexual risk and other problem behaviours may arise. These challenges
hold both short- and long-term adverse consequences. Within low and middle
income countries such as South Africa, such difficulties are compounded bystructural factors, including high levels of poverty and unemployment; socioeconomic inequalities; and inadequate access to health care; psycho-social andeducational services (Morojele, Myers, Townsend, Lombard, Plüddemann,
Carney, Petersen Williams, Padayachee, Nel, & Nkosi (2013). Despite suchchallenges youth leadership training is widely recognised as a positive, desired
youth development outcome. The Developing Youth Leadership Project wasbased on the premise that becoming a responsible leader requires skills,
knowledge, and a deepened understanding of oneself and the contexts in which

one lives and grows. It was the vision of this leadership project to develop theleadership talents of youth who are faced with the adverse challenges in
impoverished communities to rise above circumstance and develop resilience tothe risk factors.

A Youth Leadership Programme was developed with the following objectives
outcomes:

1. Embed youth leadership training in authentic, meaningful projects thatyouth define and implement;
2. Develop basic youth leadership skills in communications, facilitation,teamwork, and understanding of change-making processes
3. Train youth as community researchers and advocates, including the use ofyouth-driven research to inform the decisions of school leaders, cityleaders, councils, and commissions;4. Prepare youth for success in real leadership positions, including asmentors, grant-makers and evaluators within youth-serving organizations
as well as on school and community leadership teams and advisory boards;

A 3-day Youth Leadership Programme took place on the 3-5 December 2014. An
overwhelmingly positive response was received from the schools that wereapproached to participate in the programme. Initially the programme was toaccommodate 30 participants. After receiving more than 40 applications, in which
students needed to strongly motivate their reasons for wanting to participate in
the programme a final number of 33 students were selected. Parents and school
principals were asked for consent for students to participate in the programme
and to give a further motivation for student selection. This certainly enhanced theselection process and showed a true commitment from both parents and schools.

Focus of the 3 Day Programme
Day 1: Developing an understanding of leadership, communication andinterpersonal skills of youth leaders. The focus of day 1 was for students to gain abetter understanding of the importance of effective communication and listening
skills. The nature of the programme was interactive and students practiced
communication skills and active listening through various activities, whiledeveloping an awareness of their personal positive and negative qualities and its
impact as applied to leadership. By knowing how they define themselves youth
are more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and can improve themselves as
individuals and as leaders

Activities included:
Develop and express an oral commitment to engage in a specific leadershipgoal or challenge.

Knowledge of effective communication and active listening techniques andstrategies

Why effective communication and active listening is important

Skills to effectively communicate ideas and opinions

Strategies for supporting group communication and decision making

The experience was a positive experience for the students. A digital story has beendeveloped which reflects how students viewed their own personal characteristics
and traits which laid a positive foundation for the rest of the programme.

Day 2: Youth critically reflected on their personal leadership styles and strengths,
while also reflecting on the purpose of “leadership” in their lives and in theircommunities. In the Leadership unit, youth developed and deepened their own
concept of leadership. Youth were supported in thinking critically about theirpersonal leadership styles and strengths, while also reflecting on the purpose of“leadership” in their lives and in their communities.

Activities within this unit built on the norms, agreements, and decision-making
strategies learned in the previous unit.
Develop analytical and critical reflections skills of youth leadersDefining leadership. definition of leadership and its associated knowledge
and skills.

Investigate a variety of leadership types and theories and discuss
similarities and differences.

Day 3: Students were introduced to the importance of research. Students wereasked to think critically about strengths, challenges, and possible solutions toissues in their communities. By means of an activity to introduce the concept ofgathering information, students were divided into groups and were guided by aset of questions to gather information such as “the youngest person in the group”,“shoe sizes that add up to a certain number”, “the number of people who have thesame eye colour”. The purpose of these questions were for the students to find away of gathering information and report it back as accurately as possible. Youthwill define what community means to them and understand the interdependencyof the people and places within their community.

Activities will include:Think critically about strengths, challenges, and possible solutions to issues
in their communities



Develop and use social science research tools and methods.

Engage in collecting information about, and taking action on issues that
directly affect them.

Learn to use surveys, interviews and focus groups to better understand thecontexts in which they live.

Analyse findings and develop recommendations

Development of Digital Stories

2 Relevance and Significance:
Youth Leadership can be found in different forms, it can be referred to as theyouth voice, youth participation, youth civic engagement, youth decision making,and youth empowerment. A programme of this nature holds relevance andsignificance as it is aimed at promoting and supporting youth as leaders, while notprescribing a particular type of leadership style. The programme is significant inthat it provided an opportunity for youth to look at leadership in context and tofind value in different attitudes and definitions of leadership. This project wishedto create social change starting with the youth, allowing for participation in andthe creation of a more just and equitable society in which youth are valued andhave the opportunity to be productive and connected citizens who makemeaningful contributions – now and throughout their adult lives.