In our last communication, we discussed global citizenship and how vital it is in shaping our children to be future ready in a world where global interaction continues to develop significantly. Last week, our RECIPE focus was about responsible leaders.

Nature versus nurture is often a topic of discussion. Are abilities inborn or acquired? In many sports, we often see athletes like Messi and Ronaldo displaying gifted athletic ability like no other, even though all footballers go through the same amount of practice and training.

Scientific studies have been conducted to determine whether athleticism is inborn, and the strongest conclusion that was agreed was that athletic greatness comes from both athletic genes and training. However, one important point to consider is that the efficiency of training does in fact come from genes we are born with. But what about leadership abilities?

According to LinkedIn, scholarly articles have suggested some interesting findings about leadership abilities. It was a unanimous conclusion that leadership is 30 percent genetic and 70 percent learned, and hence the answer is that one can be born with natural leadership abilities, and yet any individual can learn how to be a good leader. Regardless of whether someone is a “born leader,” every person has room to learn new skills and grow in leadership competency; every child is a potential leader.

Leaders have the innate capacity to manage effectively and lead groups to achieve collective goals. Here is how leadership skills are developed in the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). The IPC is unique for its student-led learning approach. This means that students are provided with opportunities to express what they desire to learn (Knowledge Harvest). This is then used as a basis for the teachers in creating the content of their lessons. Taking ownership of their learning gives students the ability to practise making choices and reflecting on them.