Do Our Schools Prepare Children to be Future Leaders?

As ZenHabits.net pointed out in blog post 3 weeks ago entitled ’21 skills that you child doesn’t learn at School’, the education system is not designed to teach a child absolutely everything they need to succeed in the real world. However, children often fail to learn leadership skills from (increasingly lenient and laissez faire) parents, so do we have a gap in responsibilities here?

Historically, private schools such as Westminster School and Eton in the UK have a vastly disproportionate amount of prime ministers in their alumni, with Westminster having educated 3, and Eton having educated 19! From these statistics, it is clear that schools do have an affect on a student’s leadership potential (ability to lead)and their career aspirations (opportunity to do so).

One school who firmly believes in teaching children a broader range of skills is Ross Global Academy. Ross Global Academy is a ‘Chartered Public School’ based in New York. Chartered Public School status means that the school is free to attend, however the school has looser governance from the state, which allows for variance in the curriculum, which Ross Global Academy have used to create a ‘different’ ethos at the school.

From their site:
“By immersing young minds in a curriculum rich in cultural history, current world events, intercultural dialogue, and fluency in new technologies, the school prepares our students for global challenges by producing synthetic thinkers who can combine separate elements of knowledge to form a coherent perspective of the whole.”

From this statement, it is clear that they are preparing children for a leaders mindset. They are arming students with the ability to look at a problem after taking a step back, and being able to analyse, which is useful in any business strategy.

Let’s here your opinion on the subject. Are schools with this agenda on the right track? Do the schools near you prepare children for the world of leaders and followers?