Double stimulation and transformative agency for leadership development of school learners in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT

Learners, because of their minor status, are a virtual absence in everyday school leadership work, particularly on the African continent. School leadership, therefore, continues to be misconceived as an adult phenomenon. Framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, this paper reports on a Southern African Higher Education studythat engages with the Vygotskian principle of ‘double stimulation’ and its relationship to transformative agency in the context of a school-based learner leadership development initiative. One school change project was purposively selected as the case, and data were drawn from a postgraduate student research report and self-reflective journal. Drawing on the Sannino model of double stimulation, the paper explores the phases of double stimulation as well as instances of transformative agency evident in the data, and speculates about the relationship between double stimulation and transformative agency in the leadership development of learners.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural Historical Activity Theory
• formative Intervention
• double Stimulation
• artefacts
• volitional Action
• transformative Agency
• leadership
• learner Leadership

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the work of the postgraduate students who were registered for the ELM elective in 2016 and, in particular, the student who authored Research Report 8 (2016). Without the input of these researcher-interventionists, evidenced in the research reports and journals for the 2016 academic year, this paper would not have been possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Agency, will, intentionality

2. Ethical clearance was obtained from Rhodes University for this study (EC number 17081001) and ethical principles were observed throughout.