Motivation
The labour market and the learning objectives of the Strategic Human Resources Leadership specialisation within the Master’s in Public Administration programme demand more from students than just subject-specific knowledge and skills. They are also expected to demonstrate leadership in their development as HR professionals. In the core modules, students learn primarily about leadership within organisations, with less focus on the question of who they themselves are as leaders. How can a new learning pathway support students with limited leadership experience in developing their own leadership identity?
Hypothesis
Interaction, feedback and reflection are important for identity development. It is expected that, by reflecting specifically on their experiences, giving each other feedback and engaging in dialogue with others, students will be able to further develop their leadership identity.
Desired solution
Roel is developing a cross-course learning pathway in which students work on their leadership identity. In doing so, they draw on experiences from their core subjects and from various contexts, such as part-time jobs, voluntary work and hobbies. The learning pathway consists of reflection assignments and three peer review sessions, during which students give each other feedback and discuss these topics with one another. They document the activities, reflections and key insights relevant to their leadership development in a portfolio on Portflow. At the end of the first semester, students present their progress in a format that reflects who they are as leaders.
Plan of action
The innovation project focuses on redesigning, implementing, evaluating and further developing the learning pathway. In the first year, activities will be tailored to the three core subjects, a handbook and portfolio environment will be developed, and lecturers will be prepared for their roles. The learning pathway will then be implemented for the first time. Students’ development will be monitored through pre- and post-assessments of their leadership identity. In addition, the experiences of students and lecturers will be evaluated through oral assessments and a student panel. Based on these results, the learning pathway will be adapted, re-implemented and re-evaluated in the second year. Finally, the structure of the learning pathway will be elaborated into a model that can also be applied within other Master’s specialisations and for other forms of identity development.
