Impacts of Learning Through Experience: An Application of Service Leadership in Whole-Person Development

Abstract

This chapter sheds light on how a leadership general education (GE) course, called “Leadership in Sustainability”, which adopted a mixed pedagogy and andragogy approach, succeeded in facilitating students’ leadership development. Upon conceptualisation of the course, research was conducted on learning approaches and two areas of knowledge domains—namely, leadership and sustainability. Finally, the course design adopted a mixed learning approach to maximise students’ learning experience. “Leadership in Sustainability” was the first GE course in Hong Kong that combined the two knowledge domains of leadership and sustainability in one module. It was launched in September 2013 for a class of 38 students for one semester at Hong Kong Baptist University, which has a long history of providing “whole-person education”. This chapter is divided into four parts. It begins with a literature review, which yielded the course design rationale based on theories of learning approaches and the two knowledge domains. Conceptual propositions based on six areas of the reviewed literature became the principles for designing the course content. Next, descriptions of the course and the different course activities are provided. Following that, the students’ evaluations of the course are presented; they reveal how the course affected students’ learning in the areas of leadership and sustainability. Finally, the conclusion discusses the lessons learned and the implications for future leadership development education.