Doctoral Program in Leadership

Course:  DPLS 774

Leadership and Resilience 

Credits: 3                Semester/Year: Spring 2009

Location:                Fuller/Tilford 

Times & Dates:    Saturdays, 6-10 PM, 1/17, 1/31, 2/14, 2/28, 3/7, 3/21, 4/4

Instructor:              Dr. Jerri Shepard

Office:                    Room 227, Fuller/Tilford, 111 E. Desmet, Spokane, WA

Contact phone:       (509) 313-3630    

Fax:                       (509) 313-3463         

E-mail:                  shepard@gonzaga.edu

The Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University is premised on the belief that leadership is based on a deep understanding of the self and of the core values that drive one's actions.  Thus effective leadership requires the development of a compelling personal vision that engages others by offering meaning, dignity, and purpose.  The ultimate aim of leadership is the building of more humane relationships, organizations, and societies.  Effective leaders need to develop the critical imagination required to embrace individual, organizational, and global change from a stance of hope and courage.  In the Jesuit tradition, the Doctoral Program attempts to provide a learning community in which students can develop the personal qualities of self-knowledge, self-acceptance, a restless curiosity, a desire for truth, a mature concern for others, respect for human individuality, and a thirst for justice.   The Program promotes academic excellence and facilitates the strengthening of conceptual, scholarly, and professional competencies for use in leadership roles that serve others.

Accommodation Statement

If you need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, you should contact me to arrange an appointment as soon as possible.  Disability Support Services (AD 324, ext. 4134) will help to verify the need for accommodations and develop accommodation strategies. If you have not previously contacted Disabilities Support Services, I encourage you to do so.

I.  Overview:

Leaders possess qualities and characteristics that support their hardy persistence in the face of adversity.  Resilience describes a set of qualities that foster a process of successful adaptation and transformation despite risk and adversity (Benard, 2004). Ann Masten, a well known resilience researcher out of the University of Minnesota, defines resilience as a "class of phenomena characterized by good outcomes in spite of serious threat to adaptation or development" (2001, p. 228). Ungar (2004) indicates that,

Resilience may refer to either the state of well-being achieved by an at-risk individual (as in he or she is resilient) or to the characteristics and mechanisms by which that well-being is achieved (as in he or she shows resilience to a particular risk. (p. 5)

Butler (1997) refers to resiliency as an interactive and systematic phenomenon, the product of a complex relationship of inner strengths and outer help throughout a person's life span.  This definition embraces the concepts of hope and possibility, which are critically important for leaders. Weick (2001, p.110) ascribed sources of organizational resilience as: improvisation and bricolage, virtual role systems, the attitude of wisdom, and respectful interaction, in his description of the collapse of sense making in organizations facing adversity and disaster.  Definition is often unique to a particular person, situation, or experience; the one common characteristic is that something goes terribly wrong and positive outcomes defy expectations.

Class participants are encouraged to consider a paradigm shift from risk to resilience and explore the many protective factors that promote success.  Protective factors are defined as those "traits, conditions, situations, and episodes that appear to alter -or even reverse- predictions of negative outcome and enable individuals to circumvent life stressors " (Haggerty, et al., 1996)).The course offers an exploration of resilience research with practical application to leadership in today's world. Classes will be anchored around the personal stories of individuals, groups, and organizations that triumph in the face of significant obstacles. 

II. Objectives                                            

At the end of the course you will be able to:

Reflect on your life history in order to become more aware of the risk and protective factors contributing to your resilience as a leader.  Develop strategies, which will increase your adaptation in the face of a changing life environment.

Increase your understanding of resilience by exploring longitudinal research as well as the personal stories of individuals, groups, and organizations that have overcome great odds and manifest hopeful outcomes.

Articulate a personal position on leadership and resilience that addresses the values, beliefs, and behaviors necessary to maintain a strong presence in a changing and often difficult environment. 

III. Learning Activities:

Class discussions will weave together reading assignments, case studies, out-of-class experiences, videos, and guest speaker presentations.  You will have the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge through a variety of assignments.

Professional Expectations:

All assignments are due at the date specified, and will be presented in a professional manner (assigned number of pages, APA style, spelling- and grammar-checked, 12 point font, double-spaced, etc.)  Students are expected to attend all classes, arrive on time for class, and be willing to participate fully.  This includes willingness to verbally participate in class and be respectful of others who are teaching and/or presenting.  There will be many opportunities for meaningful discussion.  This also means listening to and encouraging the voices of every member of the class. Please arrive at 6 PM because presenters will begin at the start of each class.

Reading Expectations:

Reading assignments are to be done prior to class as indicated on the calendar.   Discussion will focus on the integration of themes from the various readings with videos/DVDs, case studies, and guest speakers. Participation in the discussion of readings contributes to the growth of all members and is an important requirement for this course.

Assignment 1  Vision Metaphor and Reflection Paper             

After watching Joel Barker's video The Power of Vision, create a metaphor, which represents a quality of strength, which contributes to your resilience as a leader. Prepare a reflection paper to accompany this metaphor (2 pages)

Dyad discussion, informal class presentation due 2/14, Reflection paper due 2/14.

Assignment 2          Resilience Life Line & Reflection Paper:           

Create a lifeline identifying critical incidents in your life (crises and/or opportunities) representing your resilience in the face of these factors.  You may choose any medium (draw, weave, collage, bead, fishing line, PowerPoint). Use images and/or symbols to illustrate your successful adaptation to these events.  Prepare a reflection paper on this process and product (3 pages).

Small group discussion due 2/14, Reflection paper due 2/14.

Assignment 3          Case Study - Individual                       

Research the lived experience of an individual who demonstrates resilience by interviewing (person-to-person or electronically) someone who has overcome significant and overwhelming challenges in her/his life to demonstrate successful adaptation and community leadership (5 pages).

Small group presentation due 3/7, Paper due 2/28.

Assignment 4          Case Study - Organization          

Research an organization, institution, business, or identified group that has overcome significant and overwhelming challenges to demonstrate successful adaptation and community leadership, despite significant obstacles (5 pages). Small group presentation due 3/28, paper due 3/7.

Assignment 5                   Poverty Exhibit

Candidates will view the Photo Exhibit on Poverty in the Rare Book Room of Foley Library

(March 2 - April 10) and attend at least one event, scheduled for one of the evenings of presentations at Foley Teleconference Room (March 23-27).  If you are an out-of-towner, there will be an alternative assignment.  Write a reflection paper (3-5 pages on what you learned about resilience from this exhibit.) Paper due 4-4

Assignment 6          Position Paper                                    

Prepare a position paper on the links between protective factors and resilience, framed around a selected life story (biography/autobiography from book or video) of an individual who has overcome significant odds. You get to choose the biography.  (Examples: Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Bill Wassmuth, Frida Kahlo, Mozart, Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Tuesday with Morrie, Stephen King, Wangari Mathai, etc.).  Refer to biography of a selected individual, class presentations, case studies, required texts for this course, and research on leadership, resilience, hardiness, and positive development.   This will be a scholarly paper with references as well as documentation from experience to support your position (12-15 pages).     Paper due on or before 4/18. Class presentation on the resilience of the person highlighted in the biography due 4/18.

See guidelines under separate cover for papers.  Please get permission forms signed for any interviews.  Please contact me if you have any questions about assignments.

IV.    Texts Required

• Benard, B. (2004) Resilience: What we have learned. San Francisco: WestEd.
• Frankl, V., (1959) Man's search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
• Ungar, M. (2004) Nurturing the hidden resilience in troubled youth. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
• A selected biography of your choice

• Handouts

V.  Assessment and Grading:                                       

Coursework will be assessed on a point basis and weighted as follows:

Attendance, participation, in-class work                       10 points                        

1. Vision Metaphor                                                            10 points

2. Resilience Life line assignments                              10 points

3. Individual Case Study                                                    15 points

4. Organizational Case Study                                            15 points

5. Poverty Photo Exhibit Assignment                                10 points

6. Position Paper                                                                   30 points

Doctoral level work should be of high quality in both content and presentation.

Final course grades will be based on the following percentile scores:

          100-95 points         A

            94-92 points         A-

            91-89 points         B+

            88-85 points         B

            84-81 points         B-

            80-78 points         C+

Less than 78 points is unacceptable for doctoral study. 

VI. Bibliography Reflecting Knowledge Base

Angelou, M. (1995) A Brave and startling truth New York: Random House.

Becker, J. (1994) Mentoring high-risk kids. Minneapolis, MN: Johnson Institute.

Benard, B. (1991) Fostering resiliency in kids: Protective factors in the family, school and community. Portland, OR: Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, Northwest Educational Laboratory.

Benard, B. (1995) Fostering resiliency in children. Urbana, IL: Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. ED 386 327.

Benson, P. L. (1997) All kids are our kids: What communities must do to raise caring and responsible children and adolescents. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Benson, P.L., Galbraith, J. &  Espeland, P. (1995) What kids need to succeed: Proven, practical ways to raise good kids. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.

Brendtro, L.K., Brokenleg, M., Van Bockern, S. (1990) Reclaiming youth at risk: our hope for the future. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Burns, E.T. (1994) From risk to resilience. Plano, TX: Marco Polo Press.

Burns, E.T. (1992) Our children our future. Plano, TX: Marco Polo Press.

Butler, K. (1997) The anatomy of resiliency. Family Networker, 15. 22-33.

Douglas, F. (1996) Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas: An American slave. New York, NY: Signet.

Estes, C.P. (1992) Women who run with the wolves: Myths and stories of the wild woman archetype. New York: Ballantine Books.

Frankl, V.E. (1988) The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of logotherapy. New York: Penguin Books.

Freire, P. (1998) Education for critical consciousness. New York: Continuum.

Fried, H. (1990) The road to Auschwitz: Fragments of a life. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Fulton, R. (1995) Common sense leadership. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Garbarino, J. (1995) Raising children in a socially toxic environment.  San Francisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass.

Gardiner, H.W., Mutter, J.D, Kosmitzki, C. (1998) Lives across cultures: Cross cultural human development. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1997) Extraordinary minds: Portraits of four exceptional individuals and an examination of our own extraordinariness.  New York, NY: Basic Books.

Geve, T. (1987) Guns & barbed wire: A child survives the Holocaust. Chicago, IL: Academy Chicago Publishers.

Goffman, E. (1963) Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Greenleaf, R.K. (1991) Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press.

Haggerty, R.J. Sherrod, L. R., Garmezy, N. & Rutter, M. (1996). Stress, risk and resilience in       children and adolescents: Processes, mechanisms, & interventions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Hawkins, J.D. & Catalano, R.F. (1992) Communities that care: Action for drug abuse prevention. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Henderson, N. & Milstein, M. (2002) Resiliency in the schools: Making it happen for students and educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Higgins, G. (1994) Resilient adults: Overcoming a cruel past. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

King, M.L., Jr. (1986) A testament of hope: The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. James M. Washington (Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco.

Johnson, S. (1996) The book of Tibetan elders: The life stories and wisdom of the great spiritual masters of Tibet. New York: Riverhead Books.

Katz, M. (1997) On playing a poor hand well: Insights from the lives of those who have overcome childhood risks an adversities. New York: W.W. Norton.

Loeb, P.R. (1999) Soul of a citizen: Living with conviction in a cynical time. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.

Masten, A. (1999) Cultural processes in child development: The Minnesota symposia on child psychology (29), Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Mandela, N. (1994) Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co.

Miller, A. (1990) The untouched key: Tracing childhood trauma in creativity and destructiveness. New York: Anchor Books.

McNiff, S. (1992) Art as medicine: Creating a therapy of the imagination. Boston, MA: Shambhala Press.

Morrison, A.M. (1992) The new leaders: Leadership diversity in America. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Rico, G. (1991) Writing your way through personal crisis: Pain and possibility. Los Angeles: CA: Tarcher Press.

Rutter, M. (1979) Protective factors in children as responses to stress and disadvantage. Primary Prevention of Psychopathology, 3, 49-74.

Shepard, J.S. (1998) The story of Elizabeth: An artistic representation of recovery from childhood sexual abuse. Resiliency in Action: Bouncing back from risk and adversity: Ideas for youth, families and communities 3, 24-27.

Shepard, JS. (2000) Through the eyes of a child: Teaching about the Holocaust. Curriculum in context: Journal of the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum  Development 27, 9-15.

Shepard, J.S. (2001) Mentoring at-risk youth. . Curriculum in context: Journal of the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum  Development 28, 23-28.

Siebert, A. (1993) The survivor personality. New York: Perigee.

Siniter, M., (1998) The mentor spirit. New York:  St. Martin's Griffin.

Snyder, C.R. (1994) The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York: The Free Press.

Tedeschi, R.G., Park, C.L., & Calhoun, L.G. (1998) Posttraumatic growth: Positive changes in the aftermath of crisis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Terr, L. (1990) Too scared to cry. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Terr, L. (1994) Unchained memories: True stories of traumatic memories lost and found. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Toll, N.S. (1993) Behind the secret window: A memoir of a hidden childhood during World War II. New York: Dial Books.

Wang, M.C. & Gordon, E.W. (1994) Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects. Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Ehrlbaum

Weick, K.E. (2001) Making sense of the organization. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Werner, E.E. (1982) Vulnerable but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilient children and youth. New York, NY: Adams, Bannister, & Cox.

Werner, E.E. & Smith, R.S. (1992) Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Werner, E. E. (1990) Protective factors and individual resiliency: Handbook of early childhood intervention. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Werner, E.E. (2000) Through the eyes of innocents: Children witness World War II. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Wolin, S.J. and Wolin, S. (1993) The resilient self: How survivors of troubled families rise above adversity.  New York, NY: Villard Books.

VII. Schedule of Courses             

All class discussions will weave together leadership and resilience. Dialogue will grow from the testimonies of the lived experiences of individuals and organizations. Please arrange to arrive promptly because presenters will begin at the start of each class.

                                                                                                                   1-27-09