Expanding Diversity of Thought In Leadership
Center for Student Involvement & Leadership, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Description
In the EDU6225 Capstone class of the M.Ed. program at Northeastern University, I was tasked to identify a "problem of practice" within our professional experiences. My "problem of practice" focuses on my current work at the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Our center is responsible for supporting student clubs and organizations with leadership exploration and development. However, our support for these student leaders mainly focused on organizational leadership development. My "problem of practice" statement is:
The Center for Student Involvement and Leadership (CSIL) staff at John Jay College have a too narrowed focus on leadership theory and lack concepts for promoting multiple methods of leadership aimed at student's transferable skills.
Explore my Problem of Practice Case Study.
Importance
In an effort to model our practices of inclusion, higher
education must incorporate this into areas of thought
and leadership, not just in discussions and programs
of race, ethnicity and other identifiable demographics.
Students must be presented with multiple perspectives to properly be able to challenge experiences, preconceived notions and critical thoughts. By incorporating multiple leadership perspectives that focus on working with others and personal transformation, students can be better equipped for real world experiences.
Skills
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Program Assessment
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Student Leadership Development
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Student Engagement
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Critical Thinking
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Inclusive Programming
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Group Facilitation
On the annual leadership retreat with student club executives of John Jay College.
Lessons Learned
Being able to re-develop and revamp the student leadership retreat to be more inclusive and supportive of leadership types created a more supportive of learning experiences and styles. It was an opportunity to truly acknowledge and accept the vast differences in our students.
Professionally for me, this helped me to further consider the concept of diversity outside of the social norms of physical characteristics. Education is strongly about the development of a learners mental growth, and this helped to get back to this fundamental and core concept.