Reimagining the Way We Teach Leadership
In the CHAE Report (Fall 2015), Dr. Arnold discusses his plans to re-envision EAD 315, an undergraduate leadership course at MSU.
Written by Trina Van Schyndel, doctoral student
Assistant professor William Arnold and doctoral graduate assistant Trina Van Schyndel are redeveloping the curriculum and instructional model for EAD 315, an undergraduate leadership course offered at Michigan State University. Approximately 450 to 500 students from various majors enroll in sections of the course throughout the fall, spring, and summer each year. Each section is either facilitated by a doctoral student or co-facilitated by two master’s-level graduate students in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education program. The course is rooted in the belief that becoming an effective leader is an ongoing process that requires practice and experience. Arnold’s primary goal of the revision is to more intentionally and fully situate learners in that ongoing process, while introducing and allowing space for them to experiment with concepts, principles, and skills associated with leadership.
Arnold envisions the revised course as a space for students to develop a sense of their own leadership identity. In addition to Baxter Magolda’s (2001) theory of self-authorship, Arnold and Van Schyndel are using a guiding framework that includes Komives, Longerbeam, Owen, Maihella, and Osteen’s (2006) leadership identity development model alongside other well-known leadership theories.
Another significant change in the course involves moving away from the use of a particular text. This change was prompted by the suggestion of Kouzes and Posner (2012) who argued, “All the techniques and all the tools that fill the pages of the management and leadership books are not substitutes for who and what you are” (p. 39). Arnold wants the new focus to be on engaging students in exploration of self and their leadership capacity, drawing upon Kolb’s theory of experiential learning (1984) and Mezirow’s (2000) theory of transformational learning.
References
Baxter, M. M. B. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling,VA: Stylus.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experiences as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Komives, S.R.; Longerbeam, S.D.; Owen, J.E.; Maihella, F.C.; Osteen, L. (2006). A Leadership Identity Development Model: Applications From a Grounded Theory. The Journal of College Student Development, 47(4), 401-418.
Kouzes, J. M., Posner, B. Z. (2012). The student leadership challenge: Five practices of exemplary leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
