Student Leadership Development Models
South African Federation of Student Affairs and
Services
Birgit Schreiber, PhD
Tonia Overmeyer, MBA
Policy Context
• National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) places
higher education in a “pivotal role in political, economic and
cultural reconstruction and development of South Africa”
(DoE, 1997, p. 1)
• Student Affairs support for student governance (DoE, 1996,
p. 12)
• “Student Service Council with policy advisory functions”
which includes student leadership (DoE, 1996, p. 12)
•
higher education to contribute towards developing
“enlightened, responsible and constructively critical
citizens” (DoE, 1997, section 1.3)
•
White Paper 3 (1997) and Green Paper for PSET (2012):
explicit demand to develop student leadership
Discursive Context
Graduate Attributes
- core competencies, sustainable outcomes and generic, transferable or
key skills and capabilities
- creative and critical thinking; global perspectives; and work‐integrated
learning. (ACER, 2010; Kuh, 2001; EHEA, 2006)
Student Engagement
- active citizenship (students and institutions work together to enable
challenges to social beliefs and practices) (Kuh, 2001)
“Student Affairs includes developing frameworks for graduate attributes
and active citizenship, including ethics, social justice, equity, accessibility,
environmental sustainability and internationalisation” (Trowler & Trowler,
2010)
Tensions btw individualistic and participatory notions of leadership
- Historical changes around leadership theory
- related cultural changes in positionality, merit and participation
Background to the Programme
Kelly, 2009
MDG
Social Justice
Leadership
University
Global Citizenship
Agency
NDP
UWC a fertile space for leadership development
Societies
PMP
Community Engagement
Sport
Religious Organisations
GEU
Faculty
LSR
RESLIFE
Background to the Programme
Leadership
Development
Student
Organisational
Development
Entrepreneurship
Social
Responsibility
Enactus
Leadership theories and the history of development
of theory
CONCEPT - Leadership – loaded interpretation based on
interpreter’s encounters, experience, context.
•
•
•
•
internalised identity
shared processes
civic engagement
developmental
mentors
• positive group
experiences
• abuses of power
• positionality
• impersonal focus on
end goals
• marginalisation
Contrasting perspectives and tensions find expression
in evolution of leadership theory
Make sense – inform development approach and practise
Contrasting Leadership Paradigms
Contemporary
Conventional
Leadercentric
Authority
focus
Hierarchy
Achievement
Individualistic
ME
Mobilise Development and
motivate empowerment of
influence
follower
Effective
management
Me
influences
them
Development
of us
Contrasting Leadership Paradigms
Contemporary
Conventional
Leadercentric
Authority
focus
Hierarchy
Achievement
Individualistic
ME
Mobilise Development and
motivate empowerment of
influence
follower
Effective
management
Me
influences
them
Development
of us
Conventional vs Contemporary Leadership
Contrasting Leadership Paradigms
Conventional
Contemporary
Hierarchical Orientation
Systems Orientation
Multidirectional nature of leadership – leading up down, sideways and out
Multidimensional nature of leadership - influencers, context
Coaching, Curriculum
Leader role – authority, decider
Followers to be led
Leader – led
Leader role – facilitator, meaning
maker
Followers as leaders, non-positional
leadership
Leaderful
Qualities and Competencies – Development of Leadership Identity
collaboration, empathy, self-awareness
Applicability of this approach to active citizenship
Agency
Change initiated from the top Change initiated from
anywhere
Conventional vs Contemporary Leadership
Contrasting Leadership Paradigms
Conventional
Contemporary
Power over
Power with
Building Sustainable support networks, competition versus collaboration,
connecting with personal power
Personal Vision
Shared Vision
Alignment – must find expression and alignment in organisations.
Efficiency and Effective
Socially Just
Alignment of Efficiency and Effective action in the cause of Socially Just.
Underline good intentions with practical project skills and action that will
bring it to fruition. Policy and Implementation crisis.
Share information
Create knowledge
Providers
Partners
This is not only applicable to Leaders, but to the way we connect with our
students. Relational and not transactional. Content heavy vs applicability.
Linear Causality
Adaptive solutions
Entrepreneurial mindset, creativity. Steering towards ? and not .
What is next right answer?
Example
Conventional
Contemporary
Hierarchy – top down
Systems - multidirectional
Who do we work with? Positions
Potential change makers, merit,
talent
Change - top
Change - from anywhere
Passive
Participatory and agency
Drive to Efficiency
Drive to Social justice
Alignment of Efficiency and Effective action in the cause of Socially
Just. Underline good intentions with practical project skills and action
that will bring it to fruition. Policy and Implementation crisis.
Contemporary Leadership Theories
Transformative Leadership
• Bernard Bass 1985 - what is the dynamic between the leader and
the followers that elevates the follower to become leaders
themselves?
Relational, Collaborative and Shared Leadership theories
• Interdependence and relational – Pearce and Congers’ shared
leadership
• Susan R. Komives, Nance Lucas, and Timothy R. McMahon’s
(2007)
Advocated for leadership as an ethical and relational process of people
working together for positive change. Viewing the group as a
community, roles (both positional leaders and members) fluctuated,
reflecting a shared leadership when working together toward
outcomes.
In these models, individuals in positional roles engage in
facilitative, distributive leadership, diminishing power differentials
to build collegial systems.
Social Change Model for Leadership Development
Social Change Model for Leadership Development
Building Sustainable
Support Networks
Self Development
PPS
Social Responsibil
General Leadership
Grounded Theory Model of High-Quality
Leadership Programs
Cluster I: Participants Engaged in
Building
and Sustaining a Learning Community
1. Diverse Students
2.Experienced Practitioners
3.Modeling Educators
4.Small Groups
5.Supportive Culture
6.One-on-One Relationships
Grounded Theory Model of High-Quality
Leadership Programs
Cluster II: Student-Centered
Experiential Learning
Experiences
7. Leadership Practice
8. Reflection Activities
9. Application in Meetings
10. Meaningful Discussions
11. Episodes of Difference
12. Civic Service
13. Discovery Retreats
Grounded Theory Model of High-Quality
Leadership Programs
Cluster III: ResearchGrounded Continuous
Program Development
14. Flexible Design
15. Values Content
16. Systems Thinking
Common themes within contemporary leadership
theories, implications for programme development.
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Importance of self development
Social Responsibility
Power and Shared Responsibility
Acknowledgement of the complexity of leadership
• Theory-building is continuously developing
process – in line with continuous
improvement and action learning of the
reflective practitioner
• Although common themes – there is a
general lack of definitional clarity both
within and between theories.
What stage is next?
THANK YOU