In this series, authors will share examples of teaching and learning practices for leadership development. In this essay, author Ania Payne describes how applying a leadership as practice lens to work in the classroom can help students learn how to be more successful at group projects and community engagement.
When the students in my Technical Writing class start the final project of the semester, they usually bemoan “the dreaded group project,” complaining that it’s impossible to have a group without “social loafers.” They assure me that as much as I might try to enforce an equal distribution of the workload, inevitably 1-2 people end up bearing most of the load of this 3-4 person group project.
Students often start group projects by identifying their competencies: one student might be more artistic and confident with design software; another student might identify as a “strong writer,” and another might decide that they are a skilled project manager or team leader. However, not all students see themselves filing these narrow roles, which leads to those students starting the project with lower confidence, unsure about how they fit into the group dynamics and less willing to speak their voices or take on significant roles. Students are often taught that identifying competencies is the best way to approach group projects; however, competency thinking does not transpose context, such as from one class to another, therefore it tends to represent individuals acting independently and “performing in isolation to others and context” rather than “being cognizant and compensatory with where one is stronger and weaker” (Carroll et al., 2008, p. 365).
Activities such as budgeting, operational planning, project management, and compliance are objective, measurable, technical, and tangible, so such processes do meet the competency criteria; however, few other leadership elements of these student group writing projects can be measured by the competency criteria (Carroll et al., 2008). Rather than having students begin their group projects by divvying up their tasks based on competency, which ultimately makes some group members feel as if they are “incompetent” at certain tasks, a more effective approach for establishing a shared sense of leadership among the group could be to apply a leadership as practice lens, which is inherently relational and collective, fostered through discourse, narrative and rhetoric, and incorporates embodiment and emotion (Carroll et al., 2008).
Applying a leadership as practice lens to work in the classroom can also help students learn how to be more successful at accomplishing the work of the community, since they are practicing leadership that is “not only collective but concurrent” as they participate together, simultaneously (Raelin, 2011, p. 206). Leadership that emerges in the moment, through collective group action, can inspire in them a sense of democratic action wherein they gain skills for co-creating meaningful work outside of the walls of the classroom, in their communities (Raelin, 2011).
A more practice-oriented approach to starting these group projects might not begin by asking students to immediately see themselves as separate entities with individual competencies, but rather asking them to assume a position of relationality or “bundles of practices” (Carroll et. al., 2008, p. 366). While an instructor might feel a sense of relief knowing that a high achieving student is serving as the group’s “team leader,” this approach does not ultimately distribute the workload fairly among the rest of the group members, nor does it communicate to each student that they are equally crucial members of the project. As tempting as it is to let those high achieving students take “leadership” roles in group projects, a more equitable approach might be a practice approach.
For example, the group project might start with a prompt where students consider their own relationality through questions such as:
- What made a previous group project that you were a part of successful?
- What made a previous group project that you were a part of difficult – and what are some ways that that group project could have been more successful?
- How do you define “success” for this project?
- How do you define “failure” for this project?
- What study habits and practices help you accomplish your homework/projects by a set deadline?
- What are some study habits and practices that make it difficult for you to complete your homework/projects by a set deadline?
- What do you enjoy most about group projects?
- What do you find stressful about group projects?
- What is one element of this project that you feel passionately about?
- What external time commitments do you have outside of this class?
Engaging in a brief discussion about each group member’s work habits, practices, and expectations for the project can also enable the students to cultivate stronger interpersonal relationships, an important practice for ensuring collaborative work among diverse individuals (Ospina et. al., 2010). The second step in the process is to establish ground rules, a process where students can practice co-creating equitable governance mechanisms to maximize the likelihood of full ownership of the project’s outcomes (Ospina et. al., 2010).
After collaboratively establishing a series of ground rules, the group can fill out a team charter (here’s an example of a team charter) to document the agreed-upon ground rules and steps for moving forward with the group project – depending on what factors group deems important, the content of the team charter can change with each group’s varying needs. Ideally, as students are going through each of these steps, becoming aware of their own positionality, and co-creating a set of ground rules for executing the project, they are also weaving multiple worlds through interpersonal relationships and creating a space where individuals with differing levels of resources and skillsets can create relationships that foster respect (Ospina et. al., 2010).
The fourth step of the process involves group members engaging in a final reflective discussion – vocalizing both aspects of their project that went well, and areas where they could see their collaboration improving. Rather than writing individual reflections where students are asked to consider their own involvement to the project in relation to each other group member, having students engage in one last discussion could help them continue to see the project as an outcome of the group’s collective set of practices.
Finally, asking students to submit a written document where they explain, collectively, why their project deserves a certain grade will not only assist the instructor in grading the project, but will also allow the students’ evaluation of their collective leadership to be factored into their instructor’s evaluation – or, perhaps if the students provide enough justification and context, the grade that they suggest could be their final grade for the project, thus allowing them the practice of working collaboratively to plan, execute, and evaluate a project.
If instructors want to contribute to a world where leadership is developed through everyday democratic practices, integrating these processes into all classes can help students become confident in practicing shared leadership, embracing empowering skills that can set them up to become engaged members of their communities.
References
Carroll, B., Levy, L., and Richmond, D. (2008). Leadership as practice: Challenging the competency paradigm. Leadership, 4(4), 363–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715008095186.
Ospina, S. M., and Foldy. (2015). Building bridges from the margins: The work of leadership in social change organizations. Leadership Quarterly, 21(2), 292–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.01.008
Raelin, J. (2011). From leadership-as-practice to leaderful practice. Leadership, 7(2), 195–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715010394808.
About the author
Ania Payne is an instructor in the English Department at Kansas State University. She is also a graduate student in the Leadership Communication PhD program. Her book “Karma Animalia,” a collection of nonfiction essays, was published by Social Justice Anthologies. More of her published work can be found at Drexel Paper Dragon, Whiskey Island, Panorama, and other literary magazines.
