Higher Education Students
OBJECTIVE To investigate whether student leaders who reflect upon their experiences will develop stronger leadership practices than those that do not reflect.
METHODOLOGY Participants were members of three recognized leadership groups within the Student Life and Leadership Development Office at Kean University: Emerging Leaders (first year students), Established Leaders (second/third year students holding an elected office), and SAGE (Seeking Alternative Growth Experiences) Leaders (part-time, graduate students and returning adult students). From the population of 42, ten volunteered to create a digital story by reflecting on their leadership experiences. Everyone completed the student version of the Leadership Practices Inventory in the Fall and again in the Spring.
KEY FINDINGS No differences on the LPI were found between the three groups at Time One or Time Two. However, the individual scores for all of the students who had created a digital story changed from Time One to Time Two on four of the five leadership practices: Modeling, Challenging, Enabling and Encouraging. The author’s rationale for the lack of change on Inspiring was “because the digital stories were done as individuals not as a collective group” (p. 24).
Concludes the author: “A student leader that examines and reflects on his or her leadership endeavors will build an understanding and begin to apply and engage in leadership practices as it develops” (p. 25).