1. Cheerleading at a Local Vocational School:
Advancing Female Students into Leadership Positions
Alexandra Gearty, M.Ed. Candidate, B.S. Mathematics
University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH
The goal of this project is to assist students (all of whom identify as female) to achieve their goal of attaining a cheerleading team for next academic year. Underneath that substantial goal, the intention is to encourage these young women to become active leaders in their community.
In a local vocational school, with a population that is comprised of only 30-35% girls there is an overwhelmingly masculine energy the minute you step foot into the school. The hope of this project is to put female students into leadership positions and provide them with the skills to actively navigate the school that they are in, to make it their own. In speaking with the athletic director at the school, there needs to be enough interest and thorough commitment to warrant hiring a cheerleading coach for the Fall football season. Cheerleading not only provides students with an athletic outlet, but it also is a creative space and a way for participants to become natural leaders in their community on the sidelines and throughout their lives.
Athletic team membership enables girls to control and shape their lives, to feel empowered. (Dorrance, 1996)
In order to support this goal, I spent some time researching the impact of athletics and leadership training on young girls’ self-esteem and later academic success.
Hart, Gary, Duhamel & Homefield (2003) state that “confidence and empowerment are acquired through competitive sports and school leadership.” Cheerleading provides both the competitiveness of a sport but it also supplies athletes with an immediate position of leadership within the school. The authors also stress that “findings are relatively consistent in demonstrating that self-esteem for athletes is higher than for non-athletes.” In terms of what I can provide these future athletes, the authors also suggest that “coaches, officials, and parent volunteers are additional role models of leadership that student athletes are exposed to…. Coaches and parent volunteers should work to develop leadership skills in adolescent girls with the support of school personnel.”
While these future leaders are warming up for their clinics we will be establishing group norms and expectations. Each student will be able to contribute to their own thoughts and opinions towards the direction of the group. Working towards a larger common goal will allow them to implement and develop skills to cooperatively achieve the set objectives.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
HOW IT STARTED
Challenging Problem or Question
Students are tasked with facilitating the creating of a cheerleading team at their high school
I tasked myself with facilitating the development of leadership qualities and the “Habits of Mind” elements in the students.
Sustained Inquiry
Athletic engagement as well as my investment in their success will build student interest as well as sustain their curiosity to see what we will end up doing next.
Authenticity
The vocational school where I work stresses the importance of “Employability Skills.” Cheerleading not only provides students with those built-in leadership qualities, but also with a gateway to further community outreach.
Student Voice & Choice
Students created their own rules and expectations for the clinics and meetings and are now held to that standard.
Participants also will be able to voice what they, individually, hope to get out of the clinics.
During the clinic, I will have each student choose which positions they would like to try out and provide them with those opportunities.
Reflection
At the end of each meeting or clinic, I will require an aspect of reflection where each cheerleader speaks to what they enjoyed, what they didn’t, and what they would like to see the next time we meet. This allows me to have some student input when building the next meeting or clinic.
Critique & Revision
During each clinic, students will review what we have done that day and consider what they can change for the next day.
Public Product
At the termination of the clinics, the end result will be a presentation to the athletic director and other faculty to show off their newly attained skills.
Cheerleaders will then schedule and have a conversation with the athletic director about the following Fall sports season.
This project began when I was finding points of connection with some of my freshman students. I noticed one of them had a cheerleading jacket on from middle school and mentioned it to her in passing that I had cheered for twelve years. Next thing I know, I have five freshman girls in my room asking me to help them get a cheerleading squad. I responded with:
“You are going to make your own team, I will be there to support you but the responsibility is on you.”
My squad is now comprised of eight to ten girls who are interested in starting a cheerleading team in the fall. We are meeting as a group in the hopes to gather enough interest through a series of clinics this Spring to show the Athletic Director that there is sufficient evidence to start a program and hire a professional cheerleading coach.
cheerLEADERS
CONCLUSIONS
Cheerleading can be a huge influence on participants lives for the positive. It provides athletes with an outlet for their creativity and an opportunity to grow their leadership skills and abilities. It allows these future leaders to develop their voice and determine how they want to use that voice to attain their goals. My hope for the termination of this project is that these young women take these skills and become strong leaders in their community on and off the field, long after I leave the school district.
HABITS OF MIND
Leadership is the capability to guide others in the
achievement of a common goal.
The leadership qualities, based on “The Habits of Mind” by Costa & Kallick (2018), that I am working to instill in my cheerleaders are:
THINKING INTERDEPENDENTLY
Working together to achieve a common goal.
TAKING RESPONSIBLE RISKS
Safely putting yourself into a situation that is foreign to you.
THINKING AND COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY AND PRECISION
Ability to express opinions and emotions clearly and effectively to achieve a common goal.
RESPONDING WITH WONDERMENT AND AWE
Opening yourself to the amazement that comes with new experiences.
CONTACT
REFERENCES
Alexandra Gearty
UMass Amherst, College of Education
Phone: (978)
Habits of Mind. Costa & Kallick, 2018.
Getting Started with Project Based Learning. Larmer, 2018.
Dorrance, A. (1996). Training soccer champions. Apex, NC
Hart, Gary, Duhamel, & Homefield (2003). Building Leadership Skills in Middle School Girls Through Interscholastic Athletics