Sheryll Ann M. Castillo
Adventist University of the Philippines
Sheryll Ann M. Castillo, PhD., RGC., LPT studied at the Adventist University of the Philippines and finished BS Biology in 2000, Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance and Psychology in 2003, and PhD in Psychology major in School Counseling in 2017. Currently, she serves as a guidance counselor in the same university.
Abstract
Leadership is an important 21st Century skill, and it is imperative that schools develop responsible and authentic student leaders primarily to equip them for future employment. However, school programs that aimed to develop leadership capacities are short-term, and often benefit students already elected as organization officers. Using structural equation modeling procedures, this study explored inherent personal and school factors, and the mediating role of school engagement in developing leadership skill. The main objective of this analysis was to come up with a student-leadership development model beneficial to all students. A total of 881 grades 9 and 10 students selected through probability and non-probability sampling techniques in schools in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Pakistan comprised the total sample of the study. The result showed that among personal and school factors, self-efficacy, sense of well-being, and school climate had direct and indirect effects to leadership skills indicating a partial mediation. With this, school climate had the largest total effect which suggests that a positive school climate is the strongest predictor of leadership development among students. Moreover, teacher quality achieved a full mediation to leadership skill which implies that in producing leaders, the role of the teacher is to ensure that students are engaged in school. The theoretical and practical implications of the result are further discussed in the study.
Keywords: self-efficacy, sense of well-being, school climate, school engagement, teacher quality, student leadership, 21st Century Skill
