EDL 306: Group Leadership (2 credits)

Fall, 2001

Meetings:

Tuesday and Thursday, 2-2:50 p.m.

Reid Hall Basement Classroom

Instructor Name: Dr. Dennis (Denny) C. Roberts Office Hours: By appointment

Office: 109 Warfield

Phone Number: 529-3435

Email: RobertD2@MUOhio.Edu

So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely – all your skills, gifts, and energies – in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.

-Warren Bennis

Catalogue Description:

This course is designed for undergraduate students who live in the Leadership, Excellence, and Community Theme Learning program, and have a specific interest in group processes and leadership. The course is two credits and includes service learning.

Learning Outcomes:

As a participant in EDL 306, students will:

· Be able to identify the ways in which leadership historically has been viewed, analyze the usefulness of the approaches, apply useful parts of the conceptualizations to their personal understandings of and approaches to leadership, and analyze why the current conceptualizations of leadership have evolved and are likely to continue to evolve;

· Apply on a regular basis the Miami Leadership Values to individual and group leadership acts they will take in the future;

· Be able to analyze the leadership they take in service and other group situations, the motives and understandings that underlie these approaches, the effectiveness of those approaches, and how their leadership might be more effective in the future;

· Feel capable of and committed to taking leadership in the future.

Relationship of EDL 306 to Miami Plan Principles:

Although EDL 306 is not a “Miami Plan” course, it is based on the same learning principles characteristic of Miami liberal education courses. The principles and how they relate to EDL 306 are:

1. Thinking critically – The historical emergence of the study of leadership requires that critical and evolutionary perspectives are considered. In fact, many scholars believe that leadership is experiencing a paradigm shift as businesses and communities emerge in the 21^st century. Students will explore their own views in contrast with emerging theory about leadership.

2. Understanding contexts – One’s view of leadership varies depending on the context and critical experiences with leadership. Students will be asked to consider how their experiences affect their views and they will be asked to study the differing contextual insights that are evident throughout history and in different cultures.

3. Engaging with other learners – Students will be expected to prepare by reading assigned materials and being prepared for discussion in small group meetings. In addition, each participant will engage in a service learning team project.

4. Reflecting and acting – The concluding unit of the course requires that the student reflect on the status of democracy and participation in the U.S. and around the globe. The ultimate question students will consider is how they will be involved both now and in the future in shaping communities that value active participation and leadership.

Course Requirements:

1. Participation (20%) – The instructor will determine this grade based on the quality of participation in class discussions, participation on Blackboard each week, and your involvement in the service learning project.

2. My Story (10%) - 1) Write a 3-5 page story about yourself and your leadership experience. Discuss what leadership characteristics you have and how you have applied them in your life. Or 2) Create a CD or tape of music that reflects your life and your role as a leader, and write a 2 page description or story about the music that you chose. You may be as creative as you want with this assignment.

3. Journal (15%) – One journal assignment will be posted under Assignments on Blackboard, each week. You will need to select 5 of these throughout the semester to write a 2-page reflection. The topics will be posted one week prior to the class meeting, and the journal is due the day of class. Each reflection will be graded on the quality of writing, critical thinking, and application to your own leadership experience. Each journal is worth 3 points. The instructor will provide responses to each journal entry.

4. Discussant paper and discussion (15%) – You will write a 2-page paper in response to the reading for one assigned week, and with another student, facilitate a 20-minute in class discussion as well as the Blackboard discussions for that week. Both the paper and the discussion should reflect critical thinking and in depth analysis of the material. You and your partner will need to meet with the instructor in advance to go over the class discussion for that week.

5. Quizzes (15%) – There will be a total of 5 quizzes, all administered over the Blackboard site. These will generally be of an objective nature and graded automatically; your scores should be immediately available in the online gradebook.

6. Service Learning Team Presentation (15%) – Each service learning project team will do a 10-15 minute presentation during week 9 or 10. These presentations need to reflect on the service experience, relate back to the NIF topic and discussion, and incorporate related Miami Leadership Values.

7. Final Essay (10%) – This essay will be your final assignment for the course. The purpose of the essay is to analyze your personal approaches to leadership. The essay will be administered via the Blackboard site. In the paper, you will need to address the following questions:

a. In what ways have your perceptions of leadership changed, from high school to now? (This may be a result of experiences or material introduced in this class) How do you believe those changed perceptions might cause you to behave differently in the future when it comes to taking leadership roles?

b. What roles do you tend to take in group settings or in taking leadership? What in your background appears to have shaped how you approach leadership roles? Why do you choose to take on leadership roles?

c. In what ways are the approaches you take to leadership effective; in what ways might you change your approach to be more effective in the future?

In preparing your response, draw upon material that has been introduced in class. You also may rely on the writing that you did at the beginning of the class on your conception of leadership, the story that you wrote, as well as the feedback that your team members gave you from your service learning project. This final essay should be 2-3 pages in length and is Due: Friday, December 7.

You will be evaluated on the following criteria:

a. Your effectiveness in applying feedback from your team members to your analysis;

b. The extent to which you have given persuasive evidence for the points that you make;

c. The extent to which you have integrated class readings and discussions into your analysis;

d. The organization of your paper and the quality of your writing.

All activities and assignments must be completed as scheduled unless extenuating circumstances have been determined. Record of participation and progress is maintained through both attendance records and automatically through Blackboard.

Academic Honesty:

Students are assumed to fulfill all course requirements in compliance with the Miami University statement of Academic Misconduct. Any violation of this statement will lead to an official report and investigation of the charges alleged. Academic integrity is an ultimate value at Miami University and all students, faculty, and staff are responsible to see that academic integrity is protected.

WEEK	TOPIC/ACTIVITY	IN PREPARATION FOR
Week 1	Session 1: -Introduction and expectations -Learning Community expectations -Write views on leadership Session 2: -Review syllabus -Explore summer reading and its relation to leadership issues - Dead Many Walking -Discuss Heifetz Article -Discuss “My story”	Session 1: -Buy reading packet from Oxford Copy Shop Session 2: -Read Heifetz – “Leadership without Easy Answers”
Week 2 Attend L, E, &C Convoca-tion August 27	Session 3: -Discuss Newton article related to student learning styles -Relate back to Heifetz’ views of leadership Session 4: -Discuss Brooks - high-aspiration students and the lives they live -Discuss Coles article -Introduce NIF issue/assign service learning teams	Session 3: -Newton “The New Student” -My Story due Session 4: -Brooks "Organization Kid" -Coles “Satisfactions”
Week 3 Attend Volunteer & Service Learning Fair, 4-6:30 p.m., Shriver MPR	Session 5: -Discuss Mathews’ view of leadership and civic participation -NIF deliberation Session 6: -Continue NIF deliberation and relate to upcoming service learning -Rhoads’ view of serving others -Directions for the weekend project SERVICE PROJECT THIS WEEK	Session 5: -Mathews “Why we need to change our concept of community leadership” -Read NIF booklet Session 6: -Take Mathews Quiz -Rhoads Ch. 5 “Mutuality”

Week 4	Session 7: -Explore various models of leadership including; Great Man, Behavioral, Situational Styles, Personality characteristics, Transformational, Servant Leadership, Post-Industrial/Relational Session 8: -Discuss Palmer article -Discuss Service Project and its relation to previous NIF conclusions.	Session 7: -Wren, Chps. 1,5,& 58 from The Leaders Companion -Take Quiz on Wren reading Session 8: -Palmer “Leading from Within”
Week 5 Attend the Miami Leader-ship Confer-ence Sept. 21	Session 9: -Discuss Bennis article -Critiques and perspectives on leadership Session 10: -Movie Discussion	Session 9: -Bennis “Knowing the world” Session 10: -Watch “The Contender” or “Erin Brokovich”
Week 6	Session 11: -Revisit EDL 306 community -checkins Session 12: -Introduction to “Miami’s Leadership Commitment,” including values framework	Session 11: -Revisit Newton’s article Session 12: -Explore www.muohio.edu/mlc -Sign up to meet with instructor about presentation -Take Quiz on MLC
Week 7	Session 13: -Inclusive leadership that involves everyone, implications for personal and campus involvement Session 14: -Comparison of individual research on NIF issue -Reflect on service project and its relation to NIF SERVICE PROJECT THIS WEEK	Session 13: -Explore www links and other campus programs, compare to MLC Session 14: -Individual research on the NIF issue related to service experience -Revisit Rhoads' Chapter 5

Week 8 Attend Acad-emic Leader-ship Sympo-sium October 11	Session 15: -Service project reflection and relate to leadership and service issues Session 16: -Discuss Truth articles -Discuss Critical Thinking	Session 15: -Cone, Cooper & Hollander- "Voting and Beyond" Session 16: -Sojourner Truth- “Aint I a Woman?” & “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” -Prepare presentations
Week 9	Session 17: -Discuss communicating directly & honestly -Team presentation -View MTV special "When hate goes pop" Session 18: -Discuss respecting the dignity of others and appreciating diversity -Team presentation	Session 17: -Prepare presentations Session 18: -Watch "Women of Summer" -Prepare presentations
Week 10	Session 19: -Four Corners/Crossing the Line -Discuss Bowen and Multiculturalism Session 20: -Discuss King and the American “promise” -Team presentation SERVICE PROJECT THIS WEEK	Session 19: -Bowen Ch. 9 “The Shape of the River” Session 20: -King “I have a Dream”
Week 11	Session 21: -Service project reflection – how to make a difference with and through others Session 22: -Discuss Tichy & Ulrich article	Session 21: Session 22: -Tichy & Ulrich “SMR Forum: The Leadership Challenge – A call for the transformational leader” -Take Quiz on Transformational Leadership

Week 12	Session 23: -Organizational Transformation Session 24: -Discuss Astin & Astin’s views of higher education	Session 23: -Talk to peers about expectations of L,E,&C Session 24: -Astin & Astin Ch. 1 "Higher Education and the Need for Change”
Week 13	Session 25: -Discuss Astin & Astin’s views of transformative leadership. Session 26: -Discuss Astin & Astin Citizenship and Responsibility	Session 25: -Astin & Astin Ch. 2 “Principles of Transformative Leadership” Session 26: -Astin & Astin Ch. 3 “Students Have the Power to Lead” -Take Quiz on Astin & Astin Chapter 3 reading
Week 14	Session 27: -Community service revisited & loose ends about leadership views and experiences Session 28: -Share confirmed or changing views of leadership and course evaluation	Session 27: -Final essay due December 7 Session 28: -Complete Course Satisfaction Survey on Bb
Week 15	Culmination & What will you do now?

Additional articles or activities may be added at the discretion of the instructor. All instructors consult on a regular basis and are attentive to issues of consistency and equitability of expectations, but no two sections can be expected to be identical in process or content.

The Leadership Resource Center in Room 122 Warfield Hall contains a rich collection of books, articles, simulations, videos, and other materials. Students may check out materials from the Resource Center during regular office hours (8:00 am – 5:00 pm, M-F).

The nature of the course as a complement to the Leadership, Excellence and Community Theme Learning program allows for active application of what is learned to your everyday living. Students who are serious about learning leadership insights and abilities are encouraged to delve into the EDL 306 course as deeply as possible.

Resources

Astin, A. & H. Astin, (eds), Chapters 1, 2, and 3 in Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change, W.K. Kellogg, 2000, pp 1-31

Bennis, W., “Knowing the World,” in On Becoming a Leader, Addison Wesley, 1989, pp. 73-99

Bok, D.C. & W.G. Bowen, Chapter 9, “Informing the Debate,” in The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions, Princeton University Press, 1998, pp. 256-274.

Brooks, D., "The Organization Kid," in Atlantic Monthly, April, 2001, pp. 40-54.

Coles, R., “Satisfactions,” in The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism, G.K. Hall, 1994, pp. 68-94.

Cronin, T.E., "Thinking and Learning about Leadership," in The Leader's Companion, by T.J. Wren (ed), The Free Press, pp. 27-32.

“Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls,” Adopted at the Women’s Rights Convention in the United States, held in Seneca Falls, New York, July 19-20, 1848. Web site: http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/declare.html.

Flowers, J. (July-August, 1995). A conversation with Ronald Heifetz: Leadership without easy answers. The Healthcare Forum Journal. [online], 38(4). Available FTP: http://www.well.com/user/bbear/heifetz.html

Gardner, J.W., "The Cry for Leadership, in The Leader's Companion, by T.J. Wren (ed), The Free Press, pp. 3-7.

King, M.L., I Have a Dream, Scholastic Press, New York, NY, 1997.

Mathews, D., “Why We Need to Change our Concept of Community Leadership,” in Community Education Journal, Fall 1995/Winter 1996, pp. 9-18.

McFarland, L.J., L.E. Senn, & J.R. Childress, "Redefining Leadership for the Next Century, in The Leader's Companion, by T.J. Wren (ed), The Free Press, pp. 456-463.

Newton, F., “The New Student,” in About Campus, November-December, 2000, pp. 8-15.

Palmer, P., “Leading from Within,” in Insights on Leadership, by Larry Spears, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 197-208

Rhodes, R., “Mutuality,” in Community Service and Higher Learning, 1997, pp. 126-151.

Tichy, N.M. & Ulrich, D.O., “SMR Forum: The Leadership Challenge – A Call for the Transformational Leader,” in Sloan Management Review, Fall 1984, pp. 59-66.

Truth, S., “Aint I a Woman?” Speech delivered at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio, 1851. http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/declare.html