Educating the Whole Person Through the Integration of Faith and Leadership

Session Submission Type: Panel Discussion

Short Description

Many leadership educators, scholars, and practitioners are interested in integrating spirituality with leadership, but don’t necessarily know how or where to begin the process. Panelists will provide valuable insights as they explore the integration of leadership education and faith-development in several undergraduate settings. Approaches to leadership education and leadership practice within institutional contexts rooted in faith and spirituality will be compared and contrasted. Attendees will be encouraged to contribute their perspectives, questions, and experiences. Lessons concerning developing, implementing, and sustaining these programs will be explicated and ongoing program challenges and future research questions will be identified.

Detailed Abstract

The education and development of the whole student including mind, body, and spirit is important for any college or university. In faith-based institutions there is a mission-centric imperative to integrate leadership education and development with faith exploration and growth. Based on the research of A. Astin, H. Astin, and Lindholm (2010), engaging students directly with their spiritual growth and development has significant impact on students’ academics, leadership skills, intellectual self-confidence, psychological well-being, enhances satisfaction in college, and prepares students to tackle the turbulent complex adaptive problems in local, national, and global contexts (pp. 135-6). The panelists included in this session represent faith-based programs/initiatives that aim to provide students the opportunity to explore critical leadership identity issues, intentionally discern vocation and purpose, and integrate their faith and leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions in service of the common good.

This session will explore multiple turbulent facets associated with developing, implementing, and sustaining faith-based leadership initiatives/programs. The panelists for this presentation originate from faith-based programs/initiatives rooted primarily in two contexts that serve as the spiritual and pedagogical foundations for these initiatives: Congregation of the Holy Cross and the Society of Jesus. Congruent with these expressions of spirituality, these initiatives are theoretically framed/rooted in the notions of servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977; Spears, 2003) accompaniment (Ausland, 2005), experiential learning (Kolb, 1984), and the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (Higher Education Research Institute, 1996).

Many leadership scholars and practitioners are interested in integrating spirituality, but don’t know how or where to begin with this process. Participants in this session will explore the integration of leadership education and faith-development in multiple undergraduate settings; understand the challenges and opportunities associated with developing, implementing, and sustaining faith-based leadership initiatives/programs; engage with panelists concerning insights and lessons learned from their experiences developing, facilitating, and sustaining faith-based leadership programs/initiatives and consider implications for implementation and development within their own institutional contexts.

The panel will begin with each panelist describing the faith-based leadership program situated within his/her unique campus context. The presenter from the University of Portland will describe the Faith-Based Leader Program, which was developed in concert with a significant non-profit trust. This program was developed after determining a significant gap in the number of faith-based non-profit leaders that will be able to assume leadership positions in the coming years. This program includes a course focused on faith-based leadership theoretically rooted in servant leadership (Greenleaf 1977; Spears 2003), discernment and vocation (Palmer, 2000; Martin, 2010), accompaniment (Ausland, 2005), forgiveness (Ferch, 2012; Tutu, 1999), strengths-based leadership (Rath, 2007), and the development of seven leader character habits (Duhigg, 2012) unique to this institution including: courageous, motivational, prudent, empathic, purposefully engaged, resilient, and reflective. Students in this program are placed with faith-based non-profit organizations for an 8-10 week paid summer internship and are mentored by senior executives in those organizations. Additionally, students are paired with leadership coaches from the educational institution who intentionally assist the students with integrating faith and leadership development through a process of structured coaching meetings focused on a unique model of theological reflection. This model of theological reflection, initially created by Connors and Poorman (2002) and further adapted by collaborators, gives students the opportunity to analyze experiences from multiple perspectives/frames.

The second initiative that will be discussed is the Ignatian Leadership Institute at Loyola Marymount University, an initiative of the Office of Student Leadership and Development that offers educational formation to cultivate personal leadership in all students. Rooted in the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (Higher Education Research Institute, 1996; Komives, Wagner, & Associates, 2017), the institute’s signature program is a series of one-unit courses that focus on the exploration of individual, group, and community values. Rounding out the curriculum is a fourth and final one-credit course titled, Theology of Ignatian Leadership, where student leaders are invited to engage the combined spiritual and educational heritage of the three founding and sponsoring religious orders of the institution - the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange. Students reflect on their leadership roles within the university community and articulate their own experience of Catholic higher education. Course topics include the life of Ignatius of Loyola (O’Malley, 1993), diverse spiritual pathways (Martin, 2010), kinship (Boyle, 2010), and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (Piderit & Morey, 2012). After providing an overview of the course, the presenter will describe the pedagogical practices used to help students engage the course content.

The third panelist will discuss the Comprehensive Leadership Program (CLP), an undergraduate academic leadership studies program at Gonzaga University. Through academic coursework leading to a Minor in Leadership Studies, reflective self-study, and experiential learning, this program seeks to develop leaders for the common good. A selective cohort-based program, the CLP provides various opportunities and partnerships to explore spirituality and faith-based leadership. The avenue for faith development utilizes theories from Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit leadership (Lowney, 2005; Martin, 2010), personal narrative and storytelling (Buechner, 1991), and servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977). While coursework form the backbone of opportunities for faith formation, CLP students are provided with unique experiential offerings such as spring break immersions, a Zambia study abroad course, overnight retreats and leadership speakers that further explore their spirituality. For example, the Examen, a spiritual practice at the heart of Jesuit spirituality is one technique used for prayerful leadership reflection while studying in immersion programs. An overview of these programs and the intentionality beyond assisting students to “find God in all things” through our leadership program will be explored.
An interactive question and answer session facilitated by the Chair will occur after the short presentation by each of the panelists concerning their individual programs/initiatives.

This session will provide a valuable discussion concerning innovative programs to develop faith-based leaders that integrates theory and leadership practice within particular institutional contexts rooted in faith and spirituality. Lessons concerning developing, implementing, and sustaining these programs will be explicated and connections will be drawn to participants for future program development, theoretical exploration, and research.

Sub Unit

• Leadership Education

Chair

• Kem Gambrell, Gonzaga University

Presenters

• David T. Houglum, University of Portland

• Dung Q. Tran, Seattle University

• Josh Armstrong, Gonzaga University