[Case Study] Columba Leadership Programme

The Columba Leadership programme focuses on leadership development and youth engagement for youth employability and school strengthening.

The programme is based on a model that was first implemented in Scotland by Columba 1400. The organisation was founded by Rob Taylor and Buhle Dlamini. A team of experienced youth practitioners was sent to Scotland to learn about, and adapt the programme for local conditions and relevance.  Columba Leadership has been operational since 2009.

Project goals

 The aim of the programme is twofold:

• To develop resilient young leaders, young people with character, purpose and 21^st century competence who can rise above personal and socio-economic challenges and lead change in their own lives whilst also contributing to change in their schools and communities.
• To capacitate schools to entrench youth engagement as part of the culture of the school.

The programme addresses a number of issues:

• Youth failing to live up to their potential
• The failure to engage youth as partners of change and powerful asset in schools and communities
• An education system that does equip youth with competencies that can help them respond to the 21^st century world of work
• The oft poor relationships within the school community particularly between adults and youth
• Non-conducive learning and development environments in schools
• Youth unemployment

Project activities

We work in no fee or low fee high schools in urban, rural and peri-urban environments across 7 provinces. We specifically target principals, educators and Grade 9-10 learners.

The programme includes a number of inter-related elements including:

• A 6-day values based residential academy
• A weekend educator empowerment session
• A school based programme of action-based learning which builds the schools capacity to entrench youth engagement over a 3-year period and support youth led, adult supported social change projects and initiatives in the school
• Connection events for learning, sharing and collaboration including a provincial youth conference, educator connections, principal forums and communities of practice.
• Connecting youth to income generating opportunities (scholarships, employment, part-time income generating opportunities in the community).

We partner with the Department of Education and the high schools with whom we work as well as transition supporting partners who offer bursaries, employment, or microjobs.

Our funding comes from corporate South Africa as well as local and international trusts and foundations. A total of R129 226 667 has been invested in this organization since 2009.

We have been funded by many blue chip corporates. These organization have provided funding, offered other support such as sponsored accommodation and venues, offered interactive career guidance days, supported Columba groups with ideas or access to products and services, offered employment to our alumni. Some of these have derived benefit not only from contributing to positive social change, but by being linked into relationships of trust with schools, and even being able to send their staff onto the academies for their personal and professional development.

Our advice for corporates is:

• One of the most powerful strategies funders can pursue is to invest in the leadership of those most affected by problems in their communities.” Stanford Social Innovation Review Sept 2014
• Youth can play a significant role in leading change in schools and communities. Invest in youth leadership.
• Be patient, deep change takes time. Agree on interim progress indicators but aim for sustainable change rather than quick fixes.

Methods

Columba primarily relies on a results-orientated method working from a defined Theory of Change whereby activities, outputs and outcomes are measured at particular points programmatically. The system generates both quantitative and qualitative information. Baseline information is collected and then compared each year. Participants self-report and share the impact of the programme on their lives as well as any changes which have occurred at the school level. Columba tracks a sample of alumni of the programme each year until the age of 24 to see how they have progressed post-school. Columba engages in evaluation of programme elements where possible.

Columba has worked in seven provinces. The table below provides our footprint to date. 9 146 participants have benefitted to date from attending either a six-day residential leadership academy or a one-day academy. 84% are youth and 16% are adults (educators, principals and other school staff).

Results

Key outcomes of the model are at two levels: individual and the school as an entity.

Youth develop character (behavioural and attitudinal change) which makes them more future-orientated to take ownership of their learning and future employment which can lead to a higher school pass. Youth are exposed to and develop 21^st century skills which aid their transition post-school and improve their employability particularly in relation to competencies such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity leading to more active and productive youth who are agents of change in their communities. At the school level the social outcomes are linked to the creation of more conducive learning environments. Adults and youth develop a higher level of trust and mutual respect through shared leadership practices including in the classroom. Case study of Manyano High School in the Western Cape.

The model is designed to create systemic change within school systems. The systemic change is noted as improved school retention; reduced number of disciplinary incidents; reduced absenteeism (educators and learners) and reduced vandalism in schools. The Manyano Case Study speaks to systemic change. Columba has several personal testimonies from principals attributing their school success to Columba. Some of these systemic successes, such as the school management team beginning to work together and share a vision have transformed the school. Learners engaging in projects such as tackling gangsterism to the point where gangsters leave behind the gang life and become positive role models both in their schools and communities advocating for change. Columba has worked with some youth who through participation in the programme have not dropped out of school and have manage to successfully transition despite significant personal challenges.

The programme started with almost exclusive reliance on the 6-day residential academy. Over time it was learned that additional elements including creating readiness for change in the school, capacitating educators, and implementing school-based activities that could entrench youth engagement and cater for the involvement of larger numbers of learners was important. Early results also showed that impact could be achieved more broadly in the school and would not be limited to an individual level.

The programme relies on a supportive principal and engaged educators for success. Threats of retrenchment which tend to lower motivation, the deployment of educators to other schools, ineffectual principals, disunity at the school management team level, territoriality amongst educators, conflict amongst learner groups in a school, and occasional strike action and data collection have been some of the external challenges we have experienced.

Some of the critical success factors have been:

• Our bottom up approach to shared leadership which includes principals and school management team members, educators and learners
• Taking the time to listen and understand the contexts
• Columba’s ethos of believing there is greatness in each young person and our elicitative approach,
• Columba’s strong relationships of trust that are established with schools,
• Our invitational approach
• Leaving the initiative with schools which constantly opens up space for schools and individuals to identify their own needs and priorities which Columba then supports
• An affirming approach to working with individuals and schools where successes are celebrated
• Connecting schools to this movement of positive change

We have learned several lessons about the constraints and enablers of entrenching youth engagement at schools. Some of these include:

• The principal is key to the success of the intervention
• Engaging youth as partners is far more effective than engaging them as passive recipients of interventions
• Youth engagement does not mean adults are not involved – youth-adult partnerships are powerful
• Inclusion – opening up space for many to be involved is important
• Learning is best achieved by experiential approaches followed up with support for the practical application. Training alone is inadequate.
• Finding common and accessible language can be very powerful for uniting a school community – in our case that has come in the forms of the values (timeless themes of leadership).

Over the next 3-5 years Columba will test out its Sustainability Model which includes a transition plan which starts on entry to the school, a clear youth engagement implementation model, toolkits for individuals and schools, and the connection of our alumni back into schools to support youth engagement. There may also be spin off programmes including the educator training programme and possibly a Representative Council of Learners training programme.

Sustainability at a programme level has been catered for in the design of the programme as well as the connections that are being forged between schools to become self-sustaining communities of practice. At an organizational level Columba is exploring various sustainable revenue streams that can minimize our exclusive reliance on CSI funding.

Read more:  Manyano High School – Khayelitsha, Cape Town: A Case Study of the Impact of Columba Leadership Programme at the School