Give a Man a Fish: Building Leaders through Service-Learning, Training


by 10x Marketing - Date: 2007-01-05 - Word Count: 1816 Share This!

Summary: Leadership, in every sense of the word, is synonymous with service.

Teaching citizenship and leadership development through the application of service-learning, centered on community involvement and personal development, may seem experiential if not idealistic; however, recognizing the varied strengths, abilities, interests, and backgrounds of individuals enables you, as the instructor or manager, to better facilitate learning and growth, and, in turn, develop team unity which thereby increases team productivity in the combined realization of the individual and collective goals and objectives. The idea of incorporating citizenship and service-learning into business management courses (and other university curricula), in the effort to breed more competent workers and leaders, is beginning to grow in popularity. Recent pedagogical research studies conducted at several universities throughout the United States reporting measurable success with the application and incorporation of such experiential approaches and theories on leadership development and training.

Perhaps, the pioneer the ideal of experiential learning, particularly with regard to enhancing student performance in (and out) of the classroom is David Kolb who in 1984 authored the best-selling book Experiential Learning: Experience As The Source Of Learning And Development which coined the term “experiential learning theory” (ELT) through the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory model. As a professor of Organizational Development at Case Western Reserve University, where he researches and teaches various courses on learning and development, adult development, experiential learning, learning style, and notably his revolutionary learning focused institutional development in higher education, Kolb is also founder and chairman of Experience Based Learning Systems. Therefore, his interests have given root to the idea of service-learning in the collegiate realm. Based on Kolb’s original model on individual learning styles, identifying four distinct types of learning: Concrete Experience; Reflective Observation; Abstract Conceptualization; Active Experimentation, the concept of implementing service-learning programs on college campuses so as to enrich student comprehension and understanding, and particularly leadership development skills, through citizenship and community involvement was first forged by Campus Compact, a non-profit coalition of more than 1,000 colleges and university presidents working with an estimated 5-million participating students through the United States, with the mission of educating young adults about civic and social responsibility, and leadership development, through service-learning. Yet, what exactly is this term “service-learning” entail? Is it community service? Is it volunteerism? Is it academia? Is it a study in theoretical practices? Service-learning encompasses all of the aforementioned elements.

“Service-learning seeks to engage individuals in activities that combine both community service and academic learning,” says Andrew Furco, author of Is Service-Learning Really Better than Community Service. “Because service-learning programs are typically rooted in formal courses (core academic, elective, or vocational), the service activities are usually based on particular curricular concepts that are being taught” (Furco, 25). According to the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) service-learning is, as outlined in the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, a method under which students learn and develop through thoughtfully organized service that: is conducted in and meets the needs of a community and is coordinated with an institution of higher education, and with the community; helps foster civic responsibility; is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students enrolled; and includes structured time for students to reflect on the service experience. (Meeropol, 2). In sum, service-learning is a standard college credit-bearing program that provides for practical hands-on application of concepts and theories learned through the traditional classroom setting, which, in turn, provides for increased understanding of the material taught through allowing the student to see, first-hand, the relevance of what was taught through “real-life” application. The concept of service-learning is based, to an extent, upon the famous dictum by Chinese philosopher Confucius - Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.

Truth be told, with service-learning being a relatively new concept being introduced into higher education (hence, the theory of experiential learning and theory), research on service-learning as an effective method of teaching citizenship and leadership development training, on the whole, explicit outline and detail a universally-accepted model or formula for application. Thusly, as Dr. Tamara Ann Waggener, a professor of political science at Sam Houston State University in Texas, explains, research on service learning often fails to distinguish between service learning projects that increase students’ social connections to their communities and service learning projects that deepen students’ political connections to their communities. “Certainly the social component of citizenship is important. Universities’ commitment to citizenship and service learning may be partially responsible for the high rates of volunteerism seen among today’s college students; however, these high rates of volunteerism are not necessarily connected with high rates of political engagement” (Waggener 2). Waggener explains that the lack of evidentiary studies illustrating a direct link to increased community and political involvement, (even increased business acumen in college graduates), and service-learning experiences offered through university programs, proves problematic in making a solid case for universities to adopt policies of requiring service-learning into course syllabi. She refers to a recent article in The Michigan Journal of Service Learning, one of the more comprehensive and well known journals in the area of service learning, which stated “the need to distinguish service learning activities aimed at promoting charity and volunteerism from those concentrating on root causes of social problems, politics, leadership, and the need for structural change” (Kahne, 44).

Conversely, a recent study conducted by Dr. Susan R. Madsen, an assistant professor of business management at Utah Valley State College, and Ovilla Wilson-Turnbull, a pedagogical researcher and co-owner of SoftwareFor.org, explain that service-learning applications not only enhances student comprehension of academic topics, but breeds a deeply rooted sense of appreciation and recognition of social issues, structure, trends, current events, and modernity. In other words, the study indicates that requiring students to participate in service-learning, as part of their course major requirements, bridges the gap between heightened awareness and the lack of “pro-action”. Madsen and Turnbull published the following results gleaned from their study (originally published in the spring 2005 edition of Academic Exchange Quarterly): “Students also wrote (possibly with surprise) that their civic work specifically related to the content of this course, actually helped them learn larger important life lessons. One (of the 25) of the participating students explained,

I work for a successful company and employees get paid pretty well and have fantastic benefits. Yet, these community partner employees made hardly anything. They worked there because they felt good and wanted to make a difference. I found myself wondering, How can you do that – make a difference in society? It was humbling. I want to understand this […]. I think now that I could really make a difference in this community. I now have the desire [to contribute at work and in the community]. (Madsen and Turnbull, 9).

That being said, Waggener, who, in her essay Citizenship and Service Learning, references Madsen and Turnbull’s study at Utah Valley State College, and that, combined with additional case studies conducted at Sam Houston State University, concludes that “Service learning has proven to be an important component of the drive towards more civic-oriented students. The vast majority of university initiatives include a strong emphasis on service learning and leadership development” (Waggener, 3). She continues, noting that various colleges and universities such as California State University at Monterey Bay require students to complete a certain number of service learning courses before graduation. And other colleges and universities, such as Utah Valley State College, have established centers responsible for facilitating the process of service-learning and leadership development through civic and community involvement through such activities including, but not limited to: acting as a liaison between students and community organizations, maintaining informational resources about service learning, organizing conferences on service learning, and reporting student service learning activity for transcript purposes. (Waggener, 3). Among the several dozen students at Sam Houston State University who participated in Waggener’s case studies on service-learning, one student’s sentiments strike particularly meaningful, if not poignant, in making a correlation between service-learning taught in academia and the application of effective leadership skills. The students volunteered time at the Huntsville [Texas] City Council as part of their service-learning experience:

Yes – at first, I felt small in a room of the supposed movers- and-shakers of Huntsville. But with rather concrete data in my hands and with the analysis derived through collaborative discussion with other members of the research team, I felt prepared to deliver a cogent presentation regarding public opinion in Huntsville – and more importantly, I embraced the possibility that this data could shape the future of policy in Huntsville. This was an exercise in authentic learning; I experienced the fruits of my learning not as a result of a professor’s assessment of an essay, but rather through the possibility of policy change as a result of my and my colleagues’ hard work. (Waggener, 5).

Moreover, the aforementioned is sustained by [former] Mayor of Huntsville, Texas, who, commenting on the service-learning performed by participating students at Sam Houston State University, said:

I'm sure that the project was not only valuable to the City, but also valuable to the students that worked on the project. They got to deal with real issues, present their finding to City Council and City staff, but also see the information they provided resulted in real action on the part of City Council and staff […] I would like to see these types of service learning projects continue. Both the City and the University have much to gain from this type of partnership. (Waggener 4).

With that, Green continued to say that business leaders, managers, and employers who wish to provide more effective training in the workplace environment ought to consider similar such hands-on training and application as exemplified through service-learning programs in the realm of higher education. After all, leadership, in every sense of the word, is about service. Kathleen Osta, a consultant for the Dallas Human Resource Management Association concurs:

Leadership is a process of assisting a group to realize its common goals, visions, and dreams. Effective leaders capitalize on the talents and diverse ideas of the group members to formulate and achieve these goals. Leadership involves encouraging a group to develop and grow by creating opportunities for group members to learn from one another through common experiences.

In brief, service-learning marries both traditional textbook learning with practical application, through allowing the student to physically see, in practice, the affect of properly employing concepts taught through standardizes college curricula. As such, students, upon graduating and entering the workforce, and better equipped than their counterparts, to lead and excel in the workplace and are, quite literally, more valuable employees and community citizens.

Author Bio: Danielle White is a client account specialist for 10x Marketing and the Center for Management and Organizational Effectiveness, which has been training managers and employments in leadership development, business leadership coaching, and facilitation training for more than 20 years.


Related Tags: leadership development, trainining, business leadership coaching, facilitation coaching

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