CHARACTER EDUCATION
problem-solving abilities and academic achievements ( Lopez , Bouwkamp , Edwards , & Teramoto Pedrotti , 2000 ; Snyder et al ., 1997 ), as well as having a greater perceived purpose in life ( Feldman & Snyder , 2005 ). For leaders , the development of high levels of hope is necessary to be an effective leader if we conceive of leaders as being purveyors of hope in others ( Shorey & Snyder , 2004 ).
To date there is no research investigating whether secondary school pupils ’ perceiving opportunities to practice informal and formal leadership roles is related to their level of hope . The current study seeks to investigate whether leadership experiences are predictive of hope in pupils between 13 and 16 years of age and whether this is mediated by need satisfaction through their sense of school belonging and academic selfregulation .
Research design
This research was a quantitative design involving 5 short questionnaires taken by 247 students to explore the links between self-perceptions of leadership alongside self- perceptions of school membership , academic selfregulation , hope and wellbeing . Survey participants were pupils from Sevenoaks school from across year groups 9-11 ( middle and upper school ). The ages of the pupils were from 13 to 18 years . Both male and female pupils were included .
The questionnaires were selected for their credibility , reliability and validity . The exception were the few additional questions included in the self-perceptions of leadership scale that relate to their actual school leadership experiences . The scales selected were as follows : Leadership identity ( Hiller , 2005 – slightly adapted for school children ); Experiences of informal and formal leadership at school ( researchers ’ own questions ); Sense of school membership ( Goodenow , 1993 ); Academic self-regulation ( Ryan & Connell , 1989 – this version was adapted for easier reading so that is would accommodate those with learning disabilities - Deci , Hodges , Pierson , & Tomassone , 1992 ); Children ’ s Hope Scale ( Snyder et al , 1997 – scale for all participating pupils as it has been shown to have validity for respondents up to 19 years of age ( Valle , Huebner , & Suldo , 2004 ) and wellbeing ( Cummins & Lau , 2005 , PWI-SC ). The participating pupils were introduced to the questionnaires through a link taking them to the online questionnaires prepared in Qualtrics . The form teachers provided the link to all the pupils in the class . The responses of each participant was recorded within Qualtrics so that all responses for subsequent data analyses could be downloaded using SPSS software .
Multiple regression statistical analyses were used to examine whether there were associated predictive relationships between these variables and to examine cross-sectional relationships between these variables , examining both direct and indirect associations ( mediators ). For example , the analyses examined whether greater leadership self-perceptions are associated with greater perceptions of school membership and academic self-regulation and whether the latter were related to higher levels of hope and personal wellbeing .
The key hypotheses were that higher levels of perceived leadership would predict a higher sense of belonging and internal self-regulation which will in turn predict higher levels of both hope and student wellbeing .
Additional research questions were also examined statistically such as whether there are differences between age , gender and informal and formal leadership experiences on sense of school belonging , self-regulation , hope and wellbeing . As statistical assumptions were met for parametric statistical analysis , Multivariate Analysis-of-Variance tests were used .
Ethical implications
Pupil consent to participate in the completion of selfreport questionnaires and survey was provided through opt-out consent by parents / guardians following the receipt of an email providing details of the research project . In the instructions , the children completing the questionnaires were reassured that if the questions were upsetting then they could stop the survey at any time and they were also given the contact number of the school counsellor and invited to see the counsellor if they had any concerns as a result of taking part in completing the survey . Moreover , the debriefing was thorough and accompanied by reading materials delivered through the form or PSHE class tutor on the topic of ‘ Pupil Leadership and You ’. This information sheet informed the pupils that leadership is within every pupil through making use of everyday opportunities and informal leadership experiences .
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