Rethinking student leadership in higher education through civic perspective rather than transactional leadership

Abstract

Student governance in Africa and elsewhere in the world provides space for construction of leadership in various countries in the continent. This notion provides basis to make an introspection of the kind of leaders that are produced through this space in the context of civic engagement or transactional leadership. The assessment is made out of the existing literature on civic engagements, transactional leadership ethos and related aspects. The literature review in rethinking student leadership is assessed against the observations of the author to contextualise and project the kind of leaders which the student leadership space produces. The paper provides the basis upon which to project the kind of governance Africa is likely to have against what Ibrahim Index of Africa Governance will likely from the assumptions and analysis of the author, based on the kind of student leadership that is developed for the world. This paper is qualitative in nature, where empirical evidence is presented through observations of the author to attest the existing literature’s validity without any specific sample used, but applies experience that was observed through the author’s career in student governance in order to ensure consistent ethical considerations. The paper intends to provide a model within which sound leadership in the space of student governance should contain and how has it translated to experience in the context of sustainable development post- student leadership period. The model constitutes a recommendation to follow in the student governance by higher education and student affairs systems in particular.