Page 38 - Guidance Education 11-12 (2006)

LEADERSHIP AND PEER SUPPORT, GRADE 11, OPEN (GPP3O) 37
Interpersonal Knowledge and Skills
Overall Expectations
By the end of this course, students will:
• use strategies that promote positive interpersonal relationships as they pertain to leadership and/or peer support;
• demonstrate effective use of communication skills in a variety of settings;
• apply theories related to group dynamics and leadership in various situations;
• explain how community dynamics affect leadership and peer support roles.
Specific Expectations
Interpersonal Relations
By the end of this course, students will:
– identify the elements that contribute to building positive self-esteem (e.g., main- taining optimism, recovering from mis- takes, overcoming fears, achieving goals, accepting positive reinforcement from others);
– describe the elements of effective inter- personal relations (e.g., respect for differ- ences, commitment to equity and fairness, flexibility, honesty, integrity) and demon- strate their use in selected leadership and peer support roles in school or in the community;
– describe a conflict-resolution model and demonstrate its use in a variety of situa- tions to reduce conflict and reach mutually agreeable solutions;
– identify sources of pressure on adolescents (e.g., peer behaviour and attitudes, family relationships, prejudice, discrimination, media influences), and appropriate strate- gies to deal with these pressures.
Communication Skills
By the end of this course, students will:
– describe the elements of effective com- munication (e.g., active listening, non- judgemental statements, paraphrasing)
and demonstrate their use in selected leadership and peer support roles in school or in the community (e.g., tutor- ing, mentoring, coaching, mediating, assisting with school or community projects);
– explain the benefits and pitfalls of express- ing emotions, and demonstrate appropri- ate ways of managing their own emotions and responding to others’ expressions of emotions;
– demonstrate an understanding of how to respond appropriately (e.g., remaining calm, empathizing, recommending a refer- ral) to peers’ disclosures of serious personal matters (e.g., health problems, physical
and emotional abuse, bullying, exclusion, discrimination, family issues, harassment, substance abuse);
– demonstrate the ability to provide feed- back to help others identify their strengths and areas needing improvement.
Group Dynamics
By the end of this course, students will:
– describe theories of group dynamics (e.g., theories describing stages of group development, roles of group members) and produce an analysis of the dynamics of groups in which they participate;