Nicole L. P. Stedman

Casting the Net of Critical Thinking: A Look into the Collegiate Leadership Classroom

As the leadership classroom is becoming more diverse in the student demographic make-up it is important to establish what the impacts of those differences are on learning leadership. In this paper the essential element of leadership analyzed was critical thinking disposition. Participants were analyzed for differences in critical thinking disposition by the selected demographics of age, gender, GPA, honors enrollment, and major college classification. Using the EMI, it was found that there were no statistical differences in the total disposition constructs of innovativeness, cognitive maturity, or engagement. There were, however, differences in individual statements and mean scores. Considering the classroom landscape, an educator must often move beyond statistical significance to identify means which meet student needs. In essence, some of the most subtle differences in students create the biggest challenges. Research findings are used to make recommendations for increasing student capacity for critical thinking in the collegiate leadership classroom.

Identification of Relationships between Emotional Intelligence Skill & Critical Thinking Disposition in Undergraduate Leadership Students

Engaging students emotionally is the key to strengthening their dispositions toward critical thinking. Elder (1997) contends that it is critical thinking which leads us to a rational and reasonable emotional life. The link between thinking and emotions is essential in leadership education. With this in mind, the researchers sought to examine the relationship between the skill sets of emotional intelligence (Developing Your Emotional Intelligence) and the dispositions of critical thinking (EMI). The researchers identified positive relationships ranging in magnitude from low to substantial. The overall skills associated with emotional intelligence showed positive moderate relationships with cognitive maturity, engagement, and innovativeness. In considering EMI critical thinking disposition scores and emotional intelligence, the relationship was substantially positive. The conclusions and recommendations encourage educators to take advantage of this relationship by providing students with experiences which elicit their emotional intelligence. In so doing there is opportunity to strengthen their disposition toward critical thinking.

Preparation for Full Time Employment: A Capstone Experience for Students in Leadership Programs

This practice paper describes the development and implementation of a senior capstone course for communication and leadership development for undergraduate students. The resulting course is a unique combination of experiential skill development and career preparation. The success of this course provides students with an important and meaningful culmination of their undergraduate experiences. Journal of Leadership Education Volume 10, Issue 1 – Winter 2011

Volunteer Administration Leadership Proficiency and Leadership Styles: Perceptions of Southern Region 4-H County Faculty

Volunteers play an integral role in supporting the mission of 4-H programs in the southern region. For this reason their proficiency in volunteer administration competence and perceived leadership style is important. The researchers sought to examine both the perceived proficiency of 4-H faculty in the southern region in seven competencies associated with volunteer administration leadership (Stedman, 2004) and perceived leadership style based on Full Range Leadership (Avolio & Bass, 1991). Overall respondents’ scores indicated an average proficiency in volunteer administration leadership competence. Yet, their reported scores showed a higher proficiency in the individual competency areas of personal skill and organizational culture. Leadership style was measured based on behavior scores of transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership. The 4-H county faculty used transformational leadership most frequently, followed by transactional leadership, and then laissez faire. Implications are 4-H county faculty could use additional professional development opportunities which address accountability and management.

Volunteer Administration: Theoretical Dimensions of the Discipline

The focus of this paper is to provide the profession of volunteer administration (VA) a model outlining theoretical dimensions of the discipline. The dimensions provided include the (a) processes, (b) discipline, (c) foundations, and (d) theoretical base. Volunteer administration is the set of associated processes of operating a volunteer program. Included are a compilation of competencies identified by the Association for Volunteer Administration (2001) and 13 professionals that participated in a study conducted by Boyd (2002). The seven processes are Commitment to the Profession, Organizational Leadership, Systems Leadership, Accountability, Management Skills, Personal Skills, and Organizational Culture. The foundational disciplines are Leadership and Management, Community Development, and Teaching and Learning. Psychology and sociology provide the empirical evidence that supports the foundations and processes of VA. Professionals should look deeper into the theoretical base of VA, in order to develop and encourage focused research initiatives and academic curricula for volunteer administrators.

Leadership, Motivation, and Teamwork Behaviors of Principal Investigator’s in Interdisciplinary Teams

Increased demand, limited resources, knowledge gaps, and seemingly less time to produce results are the challenges facing researchers and others in higher education today. Working together across disciplines is almost a requirement to stay afloat in the competitive arena most principal investigators are finding

Unleashing Leadership through Artwork

Howard Gardner (1993) continued endeavors to establish a way to account for differences in individuals beyond traditional intelligence measures. Pedagogical strategies to address “multiple intelligences” are a unique way to develop course material, whether the setting is secondary or post-secondary. While some students thrive in traditional course experiences others may be lost in the material, looking for something else to assist them with comprehension. As an instructor the use of alternative teaching methods to reach beyond the textbook, PowerPoint presentation, and lecture is essential in bringing the reality of leadership to all students. “Using artwork to communicate the role of leadership through history is a creative and engaging way to encourage students to see leadership beyond the text and beyond their [personal] experiences” (Stedman, 2007). The intent of this paper is to provide a theoretical foundation and examples for using contemporary artwork in leadership classrooms.

The Balancing Act: Exploring Scholarship for the Agricultural Leadership Educator.

Today’s leadership educator is housed in a variety of departments across our colleges and universities. As a result, leadership coursework is taught contextually based in multiple disciplines including, but not limited to, business, education, military studies, student affairs, and agriculture (Pennington, 2005). Within colleges of agriculture, leadership offerings include not only coursework, but also minors, majors, and certificate programs (Brown & Fritz, 1994, Fritz & Brown, 1998, Fritz, Townsend, Hoover, Weeks, Carter, & Nietfeldt, 2003, Pennington, 2005, Pennington & Weeks, 2006). A few academic leadership programs in agriculture have enrollments large enough to employ leadership educators devoted solely to the purpose of teaching and studying leadership. However, it is common for leadership educators teaching in the context of agriculture to be academically prepared as agricultural (teacher or extension) educators and then later assigned to teach agricultural leadership. Typically, leadership educators in agricultural departments are agricultural educators, first, and leadership educators, second (Fritz & Brown, 1998, Pennington Weeks, Weeks, Barbuto, & Langone, 2009). For the purposes of this paper, leadership educators teaching within the context of agriculture will be referred to as agricultural leadership educators.