Frobel's Theory Of Self Government

Student organizations are present in almost in every college across the country. These organizations engage student leaders in a constant process of organizational learning as students respond to a continuous stream of organizational challenges and questions.

According to Astin (1984), the greater the amount of energy college students put into involvement with academic and extracurricular activities, the more successful they are likely to be in college.

As is reflected in institutional mission statements, many colleges and universities place emphasis on outcomes specifically related to student leadership development (Miller, 2003; National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, 2006), or reaching higher levels of developmental maturity in

. . The second [of these] fundamental principles, to which properly conducted self-government seems to me to conform, is that in youth it is of the utmost importance to appeal steadily, and almost exclusively, to motives which will be operative in after life . . . The third fundamental principle in education is Frobel’s doctrine that people are best developed through productive activities, that is through positive, visible achievement in doing, making, or producing something. Student self government enforces positive activity; it appeals steadily to motives in students which will serve them in after life; and it is constantly trying to develop in the campus community the capacity of self-government. (p.5)

In support, Hall, Forrester, and Borsz (2008) emphasized, it is given that most institutions aim to prepare future leaders, it is important to understand the impact that both in-class and out-of-class experiences have on the leadership skill development of

Since student leadership entails the ability to influence major decisions pertaining to education and learning environment, student leaders use their listening skills, valuing abilities and the brainstorming of ideas in the formulation of proposals for their organization(Rodriguez and Villareal, 2003). Leadership, as defined by McGreggor (2006), is about learning together. Student leaders must be able to share and at the same time generate ideas from subordinates to produce an action that will eventually benefit everyone. Through learning together and encouraging subordinates to work together, their focus is geared towards values formation rather than just role identification. Johnson and Johnson (1975) emphasized that goals are achieved only with the cooperation and coordination of others. However, Massallay (1990) accentuated that the success of any group depends on the ability of its members to exchange ideas freely and to feel involved in the life and decision of the group. With these in mind, a student leader should use several leadership skills in order to be an effective facilitator of cooperation within the student