Research
There are hundreds of ways to access information about leadership available at the tips of our fingers. However, research is still the heart of how we as educators think about how and what we teach. Keeping a pulse on the newest leadership research is a means of staying fresh for our students and keeping up with the diverse needs of an ever changing clientele group. Each month, a new article will be featured in this section of the website. This feature is meant to share with readers an article that this author found thought provoking. After all, what better way is there to make us all better educators than to challenge our current thinking? This month, the featured article is:
Echoes of Leadership Education:
Reflections on Failure, Forgetting, and Our Future
Donald G. DiPaolo, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Despite the popularity of leadership education on college campuses, little is known about what individual participants learn and remember. This longitudinal study examines the impact of a leadership education retreat through the eyes of six undergraduate college men. Entry and exit interviews, along with intensive one and two year follow-up interviews, were conducted. Cross case analysis reveals that leadership identity was reshaped by perceived personal failure during crisis. Longitudinal analysis suggests that students attribute improved leadership capabilities less to leadership education than to their own development and leadership experiences. This study questions the value of stand-alone or short term leadership education models and suggests new curricular approaches to leadership education that incorporate potential future crucible experiences.
To read the full article, please go to http://www.fhsu.edu/jole/issues/JOLE_7_1.pdf
