1. To identify how young people conceptualise leadership as an abstract concept 2. To examine the practice of who, how and why students engage in leadership 3. To investigate the experiences and reflections of youth leadership 4. To analyse how youth leadership varies across different cross- cultural contexts worldwide The first stage of the project involved some quantitative research where an online survey was sent to all boys and staff. The survey was well received across all participating schools with six thousand responses recorded. The second part of the project involved the two College Research Ambassadors – me and Year 12 student Jamie Barr – interviewing 10 boys individually to get more detailed information. I particularly enjoyed this part of the project as it gave great insights into the ways the boys show leadership not only within the College gates, but also outside in the community. The College boys were applauded for their detailed responses by the research team and I would like to thank every one of them for giving their time. We are now in the final stage of the research process, which involves Jamie and I writing a mini research report. Each of the participating schools was allocated one of the 12 Round Square Discoveries, with Christ’s College having been allocated Courage. This mini report will explore the concept of leadership with reference to the allocated discovery (courage) and will be published on the Round Square website early next year. The full report will be available March 2021, but there are already several interesting findings – one of which has been the debunking of the myth that you have to be born a leader to be a leader. I would like to say a big thank you to the members of the committee: Year 13 students Sam Barnett and Thomas
McClean, and Year 12 students Jamie Barr, Oliver Hlavac, Joshua Erasmus and Josh Wood. They have been a great help this year and have made a valuable contribution to the committee. In particular, I would like to thank Jamie for his help and giving his time to the Round Square research project. I would also like to thank the Director of the Centre for Character & Leadership Darrell Thatcher for the guidance and support he has not only given me, but also many boys at College this year. Good luck to Oliver in the role of Head of Character & Leadership in 2021. I am sure you will continue to work hard and make a difference in the College community. Jack Drage Head of Character & Leadership
and a post-lockdown potluck dinner hosted at St Andrew’s College. These events offer great opportunities to develop social networks while having a bit of fun. Another flow-on effect of restricted travel was difficulty in connecting with other Round Square schools. Planned exchanges in South Korea and Australia were cancelled, as was the local cluster conference of Aotearoa Round Square schools to be held in Whanganui. "Working from Home" type of vibe conferences, held on platforms such as Zoom, were used to work around this. Although managing some disorienting time differences, College students were still able to participate in a couple of focus groups with schools from around the world to discuss pertinent ideas and develop our perspectives – for example, joining discussions about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. College is often seen as an exclusively “white elite” community. This perception, combined with the way this year provoked a sense of disconnect from the rest of the world, formed the underlying theme for this year’s International Week, which attempted to tackle this by acknowledging diversity in the school. International Week took place in the second week of Term 3. On the morning of Ra ¯ hina (Monday) we set the tone for the week with an international themed Chapel service, with readings and prayers from boys showcasing the wide variety of languages spoken in our community, such as Singhalese, French and Korean among others. At the service I delivered a sermon which attempted to provoke reflection from the school on the impacts of our actions and sensitivity (or inverse) regarding local diversity. A similar themed assembly on Ra ¯ pare (Thursday) featured guest speaker Matt Nichols, Manager of International Relations at the Christchurch City Council. His talk about a worldly view and his work as an international diplomat was welcomed by the whole school.
INTERNATIONAL & ROUND SQUARE
2020 was an especially difficult year for all. The international and Round Square aspects of College were no exception and we were greatly affected by the restrictions Covid-19 brought. Always up for a challenge, however, the international students, members of Round Square committees and committed exchange students took everything in their stride. We managed to work within the constraints of the year to continue international collaboration online, local interschool events and internal events, such as our flagship International Week in Term 3. This year, College’s international students had an experience unique to the conditions of the world right now, as they were “stranded” in Aotearoa, unable to travel back to their families during holidays as other years have allowed. Therefore, we had boys connecting more with their domestic mates and some even managed to stay during term holidays with friends’ families. Events with international students from other schools continued to run through the year, with highlights including dinner at Japanese restaurant Hachi Hachi with girls from St Margaret’s College,
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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