Applying theories and models in leadership program and curriculum design

It may seem obvious; the notion that leadership educators should and would use certain theories and models for their leadership courses and programs. So, why would we devote an entire New Directions for Student Leadership issue to the topic? Don't we already have texts on leadership theories, books on certain leadership models and approaches, and publications on pedagogy for leadership education? Yes, and especially in recent years, the quantity and quality of resources for those doing the work of leadership education have increased immensely. Though, as leadership educators and scholars ourselves, we believe there remains a disconnect in leadership educator practice between the knowing of the theories and models, and the application of theories and models to programs, courses, and other educational initiatives. We also know those who come into leadership education work are derived from diverse spaces on college and university campuses and from a varied set of backgrounds. In addition, many leadership educators hold a multitude of institutional responsibilities that may (or may not) fit directly in the realm of leadership learning and development. With competing responsibilities and multiple constituencies, it can be challenging for leadership educators to make time and reflective space to interrogate how their leadership practice is grounded in contemporary theoretical constructs. In recent years, the leadership educator community has paid more attention to helping each other answer the question of what to teach about leadership; from leader skills and competencies to the process of leadership in groups and teams, to overarching philosophies around the purpose of leadership in society. We have also increasingly improved in our exploration and development as a community in how to teach, or the pedagogy of leadership education, with the advent of leadership educator-specific professional development programs and publications related to evidence-based practices for teaching and learning in leadership education. Though, specific attention to the design process of leadership education interventions and how theories and models inform that process has been less common. Marrying theory to practice can be stress-inducing, anxiety-provoking, and confusing. Theory, in many ways, is meant to describe and explain (Mueller, 2019), whereas practice is meant to respond to and mitigate an identified problem, challenge, or opportunity. While in name, grounding practice in theory makes sense, in actuality, it can be complex and difficult. In recent years, leadership educators have continued to raise the conversation about and support for those looking to strengthen their integration of theory with practice (see Guthrie & Jenkins, 2018). With this New Directions for Student Leadership issue, we build on contributions made by other scholars in considering how leadership theories and models can inform the design of practical interventions. The authors of the articles in this issue seek not to just describe a theory or model, or to share a program using those approaches, but to explain how the highlighted approach informs their thinking and choices in leadership education design. In essence, we invite you into the minds of your fellow leadership educators to understand what and how they think as they work to ‘connect the dots’ between content, design, and implementation of leadership education experiences using certain leadership theories and models as guiding frameworks. The leadership theories and models we have chosen to highlight in this issue represent just a few of the multitude of options that exist in leadership scholarship and communities of leadership around the globe. Here, we have worked with the New Directions for Student Leadership series editors and fellow leadership educators to determine a set of theories and models that represent some of the most cited in US higher education and within the NDSL reader community. We hope this issue helps you be even more thoughtful and intentional in using these well-known theories and models for program and course development, ultimately helping us as a professional community better attend to the leadership learning and development needs of today's students. Aoi Yamanaka and Julie Owen walk us through the leadership identity development (LID) model and how to use it in conjunction with popular frameworks for leadership learning and development. The LID model helps us understand how students connect to the label of ‘leader’ and process of ‘leadership,’ and how that orientation changes over time as students develop interdependency with others. Of particular note are the examples of how to both teach LID as content, as well as how to use it to inform program structure. Additionally, common misuses of LID are highlighted. Paige Haber-Curran and Erin Williamson explore emotionally intelligent leadership (EIL) and the various components within the EIL model. The authors provide in rich detail examples of how this leadership approach has been used across leadership learning and development spaces at a single institution. The article highlights resources to help students understand areas of promise and areas of growth in their emotional intelligence, while also demonstrating the value of incorporating EIL into an overall leadership learning framework. Karryna Madison, Judith Fernando, Jonathan Robberts, and Nathan Eva provide a contemporary understanding of servant leadership and its functionality in support of leadership learning. The authors take a deep dive into the research on servant leadership, reframe it to emphasize collaboration and mutuality, and highlight this modernized version of servant leadership in practice. In the “Considerations” section of this article, the authors offer rich propositions for leadership educators seeking to employ a ‘servant as leader’ approach to their leadership curriculum. Courtney Holder and Dana Pursley invite us to explore the modern emphasis on relational leadership through two popular leadership frameworks. First, they explore applications of the relational leadership model (RLM), originally designed to help college students learn about leadership as a relational process. They then engage us in reframing and repurposing the five practices of exemplary leadership, a popular trait/behavioral model that can also be used to explore relationships and group dynamics. Highlighted examples explore peer education models and institutional experiential learning requirements. Jasmine Adams, Sydnee Patterson, and Kristan Cilente Skendall explore socially responsible leadership and provide an overview of the social change model of leadership development (SCM). The authors discuss the SCM with a critical lens and suggest how to inclusively engage the model in both content and design of leadership programs. The Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship is highlighted with aspects of this long-term program mapped directly to values and themes of the SCM. Viveckhanand “V” Chunoo and Brittany Devies provide an overview of culturally relevant leadership learning (CRLL) and how its domains and dimensions can help elicit leadership learning and development in both curricular and co-curricular settings. Notice how they map CRLL components to examples of both content and design choices. Their application of CRLL to contexts that would not necessarily be named first as ‘leadership programs’ is also of particular interest. Natasha Turman examines how to employ authentic leadership utilizing a critical framework. Beyond an overview of related theory, Turman offers considerations on the role social location plays in authentic leadership, with acknowledgement that ‘authenticity’ is fluid and informed by context, emotional labor, and risk. Turman invites the reader to see authenticity from a place of power, privilege, and positionality. With these distinctions, the article is not only populated with action items for practice but also with clarity on the vulnerabilities inherent within this theoretical approach to leadership. Erica Wiborg, Amber Manning-Ouellete, and Ericka Roland encourage us to explore the question and challenge, “What is liberation, and what does it look like in leadership education?” Their discussion pushes leadership educators to consider that the purpose of leadership is to challenge inequitable structures and to design experiences and environments that welcome and develop the critical leader in all. The authors share examples of how to engage in liberatory practice through everyday decisions regarding program structure, design, and assessment. Ben Correia-Harker explores the craft of integrating and layering theories and models in curriculum design. Ben reminds us that no one theory or model is intended to ‘do it all’ and warns against oversimplifying leadership education work by bounding initiatives to a single framework. Correia-Harker discusses connecting, supplementing, scaffolding, and sequencing leadership models and theories to increase access to and engagement with leadership learning for diverse populations. Reflection questions to consider in the leadership education design process are shared throughout the discussion. Leadership is a process (Northouse, 2021) and so is the notion of applying theory to practice (Mueller, 2019). With the compilation of the articles that comprise this edition of the New Directions series, the authors illuminate the process of leadership theories and models being applied to inform practice. Leadership is not a ‘one size fits all’ enterprise and neither is the employing of leadership theories and models. You, the reader, are invited to take the processes identified in these articles and apply them to the leadership theories and models that best meet the needs of the programs and leadership learning initiatives you are developing. Above all, we hope you continue to recognize the importance of using sound evidence-based practice, grounded in critically examined theories and models essential for today's leadership education curricula. Melissa L. Rocco (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education at the University of Vermont and currently serves as Faculty Director for the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on the application of transformative and liberatory pedagogy to challenge dominant narratives and center identity, equity, and justice in leadership learning and development. Dr Rocco is author and reviewer for some of the most widely used texts in graduate and undergraduate leadership education and has facilitated hundreds of leadership education programs across the globe. She is a co-author of the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020–2025 and representative to the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) in Higher Education. Darren E. Pierre (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer in the Office of Global Engineering Leadership in the A. James Clark School of Engineering and holds an appointment as an affiliate assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Maryland-College Park (UMD). He is a thought leader within higher education, authoring a book, book chapters, journal articles, and presenting at numerous conferences on topics centered on leadership, identity development, and student engagement. In 2020, he led a team in developing one of the nine strategic priorities developed to inform the 2020–2025 National Leadership Education Research Agenda (NLERA).