Past Conference Highlights

Life Worth Living (LWL): The Leadership Anthology Project - Dr. Zachary Wooten, West Chester University, Honors College, Dr. Matthew Pierlott, West Chester University, Philosophy. The 4 Key Principles of LWL Pedagogy: 1. Pursuit of Existential Meaning, 2. Commitment to Truth-Seeking Pluralism, 3. First-Person Engagement, 4. Participation in a Community of Practice. Leadership & the Good Life - What makes a good life? What does it mean to live a flourishing life? What does leadership have to do with a life well lived? Leadership and the Good Life, a 'Life Worth Living' course is designed to: Have students engage with various philisophical and spiritual traditions, Feature visits from contemporary practitioners who live out these traditions and take on leadership roles in their communities, Relate reprensentative texts to the role of a leader in cultivating a good life for one's individual benefit as well as for the sake of a community, Utilize a flexible, inclusive and interdisciplinary approach, Pay special attention to issues of religious privilege, inter-tradition (and non-tradition) dialogue, and spiritual expression and influence. The Leadership Anthology Project: Students create a leadership anthology highlighting campus leaders and in the wider community. The Anthology aims to celebrate community leaders who enrich the lives of others and inform emerging leaders of exemplars in their midst. The activity links leadership theory and practice, encourages conversations around living life well, and fosters appreciation for campus and community members. Elements of the Assignment: Step 1: Students reflect on who around them demonstrates the qualities of a leader and request an interview. Step 2: Students interview their selected leader. Potential Questions include: What is leadership? How would you describe the way that you lead? According to you, what does it mean for live... to go well? (What is important in terms of life's circumstances). to be led well? (What do we need to do in order to lead a life worth living?). to feel good? (and does it matter? Might the life worth living be miserable?) What reasons and/or motivations do you have to live a good life? What resources do you utilize to lead a good life? As a leader, to whom are you responsible for living life well? As a leader, there are times that we fall short. What do you do when you make a mistake or fail to live life well? Step 3: Students compose a 500-1,000 word 'feature article' about their leader from their interview notes and submit for peer review. Step 4: Students submit a short reflection paper addressing how their interviewed leader's understanding of leadership and vision of the good life relates to their own. Step 5: Students revise 'feature article' after peer review and submit a final draft. Step 6: Students format and publish a WCU Leadership & the Good Life Anthology from the 'featured articles'. Step 7: Students celebrate and recognize their interviewees at the WCU Leadership & the Good Life Anthology reception. Step 8: Students work in designated groups to compose a sociological synthesis group paper, identifying major themes, gaps, and contradictions. Our Goals: The interpersonal and collaborative nature of this extended assignment will help students: clarify their understanding of what it means to be a leader, and deepen their appreciation of differing visions of the good life with an interfaith mindset. Assessment Results: Students reported clear gains for Goal 2. The biggest win is that course exposed students to ordinary people putting their beliefs into practice with a vision of how to live well. Student excitement for the course centers on this dimension. Additionally, we saw changes toward an interfaith mindset reflected in student attitudes. Want to learn more about LWL? Contact Info: Dr. Matthew Pierlott mpierlott@wcupa.edu, Dr. Zach Wooten zwooten@wcupa.edu. wcupa.edu/leadershiphub, Thanks! Special appreciation for support goes to: Interfaith America, for their Campus Innovation Grant, Yale Center for Faith and Culture and the Life Worth Living initiative.

Dr. Zachary Wooten and Dr. Matthew Pierlott presented the "Good Life across Generations" assignment at the Association of Leadership Educators' Annual Conference.

 

 

This poster provides an example of an innovative service-learning assignment in a class entitled, Leadership and the Good Life. Using a philosophical approach to leadership studies, students investigate what it means to live a good life and how to navigate conflicting visions of the good life in community. Students also consider the resources, pitfalls, and challenges of various visions of leadership and the good life. Students explore readings, listen to guest speakers, engage in group discussions, and participate in a dialogical and intergenerational service learning experience. About the Assignment: For this assignment, students were paired with and interviewed an older adult from The Hickman Friends Senior Community of West Chester. Alternatively, students could choose to interview an older adult from their sphere of influence. The purpose of this interview was to gain a unique perspective on leadership and what it means to live a good life. By cultivating intergenerational dialogue, students at the beginning of their adult lives benefitted from the wisdom of adults with more life experience. The university's Center for Community Engagement and Social Impact financially supported a student who took the course previously to help with the coordination of the project. Throughout this project, students conducted two interviews to investigate the older adults vision of leadership and the good life. Through these interviews, students continued to refine their own definitions of leadership and what it means to live a good life. After the interviews, the students reflected on their interviewees' perspectives and composed a feature article and gifted it to the interviewees. Want to learn more about the Good ife method within leadership education? contact Contact Dr. Zachary Wooten at zwooten@wcupa.edu

Dr. Zachary Wooten and Emma Dunham” presented the “Good Life across Generations” assignment at the Association of Leadership Educators’ Annual Conference.