October 2004
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Leadership Life Skills Demonstrated by State 4-H Council MembersJacklyn A. Bruce Barry L. Boyd Kim E. Dooley IntroductionThe 4-H Council is a body of approximately 34 young people elected to fill the highest positions young people can attain in the 4-H organization in a state. Being a State 4-H Council member is often seen as the pinnacle of a young person's 4-H career. Council members plan retreats, conferences, and camps for the 4-H members that they represent and are responsible for industry contacts and public appearances representing the state organization. They receive opportunities that are not available to other 4-H members, such as travel, networking, and leadership training. 4-H members spend many years in preparation to run for one of these coveted positions. The development of leadership and life skills is one of the stated goals of the 4-H program (National 4-H Council, 2003). Miller (1976) conceptualized leadership life skills developed in the 4-H program into seven categories: decision making, relationships, learning, management, understanding self, group processes, and communications. Seevers, Dormody, and Clason (1995) adopted Miller's conceptualization for purposes of their life skills assessment and expanded the definition to the development of the life skills necessary to perform leadership functions in real life. For purposes of the research discussed here, we will also use the seven categories of the life skills conceptualized by Miller and the broader definition from Seevers, Dormody, and Clason. The perception exists that participating in a variety of activities enables 4-H members to develop positive life skills. Seevers and Dormody (1995) found that most 4-H members participated in many different leadership activities. Participation was found to be greatest at the club level; however, researchers also found high participation in activities at the county/district level. In an assessment of activities where 4-H members ranked the activities they believed allowed them the best opportunity to acquire leadership life skills, four activities tied for the number one spot. Holding an office was the first of those four activities. Cantrell, Heinsohn, and Doebler (1989) found that perceived life skill development was positively related to general participation and leadership roles at the three succeeding levels ("club," "county," and "beyond county") of 4-H programming. We found that leadership life skill development dramatically increased when 4-H members experienced leadership roles beyond the club level, positively affecting development in nine of the 10 clusters surveyed (value development, interpersonal skills, citizenship development, communication skills, career development, agricultural skills, and home economics skills). It is also important to note that inter-relatedness plays an important role in defining and achieving motivation. Anderman and Midgely (1998) describe inter-relatedness as one of three pieces of the motivational pattern of self-determination. Self-determination theory describes students as needing a sense of competence, relatedness to others, and autonomy. Competence involves understanding how to, and believing one can, achieve various outcomes. Relatedness involves developing satisfactory connections to others in one's social group. Autonomy involves initiating and regulating one's own actions. For young adolescents, with their increased cognitive ability and developing sense of identity, a sense of autonomy may be important. Students at this stage say that they want to be included in decision-making processes and to have some sense of control over their activities. As Extension professionals, we often assume that leadership is taught, but research has failed to describe what was actually learned as a result of being an officer. For example, we know that they learn communication skills, but what kind of communication skills? We know that council members learn relationship skills, but how does this affect their future relationships? Purpose/ObjectivesThe purpose of the study discussed here was to assess the leadership life skills that 4-H members learned as a result of serving as a State 4-H Council officer. Methods/ProceduresThe research followed the qualitative paradigm, which embraces the notion that both interviewer and interviewee influence and are influenced by the process of data collection and analysis. Credible qualitative inquiry depends on creating categories of meaning firmly based in the social realities of study participants. The researchers used purposive sampling, a technique that intentionally seeks out participants/data sources because of certain qualities, to find participants who were willing to discuss their experiences as State 4-H Council members. The initial participants for the study were students in the classes taught by the researchers who self-identified themselves as former council members. The remaining participants were identified using a snowball sampling method (Babbie, 2001). Participants in the first group identified other State 4-H Council members who could be contacted about participating in the study. The study focused on 15 individuals who had participated in the State 4-H Council program from 1988-89 through 2001-2002. Interviews, participant observation, and document analysis were the methods used to collect data. Participation in semi-structured and unstructured interviews was voluntary, and interviews were coded to retain confidentiality. Data analysis followed the traditional methods described by Lincoln and Guba in Naturalistic Inquiry (1985). Lincoln and Guba (1985) adopted the Glaser and Strauss (1967) constant comparative method for use in naturalistic inquiry. The researchers' use of this method followed that adaptation and is outlined below.
Credibility was established through persistent observation, triangulation, peer debriefing (working with a panel to confirm findings), member checking (allowing interviewees full editorial control over their transcripts), and reflexive journaling. The researchers used thick description in the reporting of respondents' thoughts and ideas relative to the research questions and purposive sampling to establish transferability. The researchers used an audit and journaling to establish dependability. Methods to establish confirmability included an audit and reflexive journal. Establishing trustworthiness enables methodological soundness. Results/FindingsUsing Seevers and Dormody's Youth Leadership Life Skills Development Model and Miller's (1976) seven conceptualized categories of leadership skills, the researchers were able to identify some of the skills that the State 4-H officers gained throughout their term. Specific operational definitions for each of the categories, for purposes of this study, were created using the words of the State 4-H Council members. This was done in order to construct a more realistic conceptualization of the skills as the State 4-H Council members perceived them. The first of the seven categories of leadership life skills is "decision making." Several of the council members interviewed for this study demonstrated an ability to make decisions based on situations they encountered or methods they learned while on State 4-H Council. Ten council members talked about learning to make decisions based on the time requirement of being on State 4-H Council. These individuals discussed learning about priorities and making decisions based on the priorities they had chosen.
Nine council members expressed a desire to take on the State 4-H Council role because they wanted to make decisions that would make a difference in the lives and the 4-H experiences of their peers. One State 4-H Council member in particular discussed a long-standing desire to join State 4-H Council to make some changes that would have far-reaching effects for their district leadership. Another council member discussed wanting to make decisions that would have a positive affect on the 4-H members at home in the counties within their district.
"Relationships" is the second skill category. Eleven of the council members discussed getting to know and working with a large group of peers they did not know well at the outset.
Greater than their desire to work well with one another was their desire for a close-knit group of friends.
All of the council members interviewed discussed the friendships that grew out of their council experiences with great fondness, placing it at the top of the list of things that they walked away with from the experience The third of the seven categories of leadership life skills is "learning." Whether it was a skill or something about themselves or the world around them, many council members walked away with new knowledge. Five council members felt like the greatest lesson learned was a new skill.
Tied closely to the last category is the fourth category of "understanding of self." Having an understanding of self encompasses knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, and knowing in what areas of your life learning has occurred. Thirteen council members recognized that their personal growth was the area where their learning occurred.
"Management" is the fifth skill category. In the case of the State 4-H Council, management was similar to other skill areas and learning methods. Council members demonstrated the ability to manage their own paths to reach the state council goal by learning all they could from their own experiences and the experiences of others. These young people exhibited management skills through decision-making and priorities on their time. The sixth skill is group processes. Participants defined group process as understanding how a group works and how an individual can positively, or negatively, influence a group. Each participant interviewed discussed his or her own experiences with the group and his or her understanding of the group processes of the 4-H Council. Eight members of the group perceived that their group worked successfully or had positive group processes.
Five members of the group perceived that their group did not work well together of had ineffective group processes).
Seven State 4-H Council members discussed the cliquishness of the group as a whole or the lack of team unity.
The last category is communications. On State 4-H Council, communication is key between individual members, members and advisors, and between the council and the people they meet and work with outside the 4-H program. Several council members talked about learning how to communicate differently, depending on which of the three audiences they were addressing. Eight council members talked about learning to communicate with their peer groups.
Eleven of the council members discussed learning to communicate with their advisors.
Ten council members talked about learning how to properly communicate with the people at their different speaking engagements.
Conclusions/RecommendationsThe study discussed here examined the leadership life skills conceptualized by Miller and how each of the council members demonstrated those leadership life skills. It may be concluded from the findings that 4-H members do gain skills in decision making, communication, and getting along with others as a result of serving as a State 4-H Council officer. In addition, members developed positive, long-lasting relationships with other council participants. Participating on State 4-H Council is also an experience for self-growth and self-discovery. The findings of this study support the findings of Seevers and Dormody (1995) and Boyd, Herring, and Briers (1990) that serving as an officer increases leadership life skills. However, it is clear that advisors and trainers address some of the areas of leadership life skills more fully than they address others throughout the year. More deliberate efforts in developing leadership life skills should be made. Our recommendations are as follows.
ImplicationsIn a time when we increasingly hear the words, "we need to do more with less," the implications of this study for all Extension are directly tied to answering that call.
ReferencesAnderman, L. H., & Midgley, C. (1998). Motivation and middle school students. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED421282). Babbie, E. (2001). The practice of social research. (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Boyd, B. L., Herring, D. R., & Briers, G. E. (1992). Developing life skills in youth. Journal of Extension [On-line]. 30(4). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/1992winter/a4.html Cantrell, J., Heinsohn, A. L., & Doebler, M. K. (1989). Is it worth the costs?. Journal of Extension [On-line]. 27(1). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/1989spring/a4.html Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine. Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Miller, R. A. (1976). Leader/agent's guide: Leadership life skills. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. National 4-H Council. (2003). www.fourhcouncil.org. Seevers, B. S., & Dormody, T. (1995). Leadership life skills development: Perceptions of senior 4-H youth. Journal of Extension, [On-line] 33(4). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/1995august/rb1.html Seevers, B. S., Dormody, T. J. & Clason, D. L. (1995). Developing a scale to research and evaluate youth leadership life skills development. Journal of Agricultural Education, 36(2). 28-34. Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. (1977). Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies. 2. 419-427. This article is online at http://www.joe.org/joe/2004august/a6.shtml. Copyright © by Extension Journal, Inc. ISSN 1077-5315. Articles appearing in the Journal become the property of the Journal. Single copies of articles may be reproduced in electronic or print form for use in educational or training activities. Inclusion of articles in other publications, electronic sources, or systematic large-scale distribution may be done only with prior electronic or written permission of the Journal Editorial Office, joe-ed@joe.org. If you have difficulties viewing or printing this page, please contact JOE Technical Support. |