From Command to Community: A New Approach to Leadership Education in Colleges and Universities

2: The Potential of Service-Learning Student Leadership

2 The Potential of Service-Learning Student Leadership Edward Zlotkowski, Katelyn Horowitz, and Sarah Benson It is the contention of the editors of this book that there exists an unfortunate , unnecessary, and ultimately dysfunctional gap between the civic engagement movement and programs aimed at developing student leadership. They write that, although civic engagement has become part of higher education, colleges and universities have not considered how civic engagement might help to promote and redefine leadership in young people. The editors also note that most programs to foster civic engagement in the young remain separate from programs to support youth leadership, at the levels both of theory and of practice. Furthermore, they contend, the growing strength of the civic engagement movement itself reflects the emergence of a far more civically oriented generation than we have seen in many years. And this resurgence of civic interest, sufficiently strong to lead Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) to speak of the possibility of a “new Greatest Generation ” (2008), points not only to a new sense of personal responsibility for enhancing the common good but also to a new, far less individualistic understanding of leadership than that implied by many traditional leadership programs. Although it is still too early to tell just how committed to the common good the current generation will in fact turn out to be, there is already considerable evidence to suggest that the editors’ emphasis on “cultural transformation,” that is, on substantive changes in how people work, think, and relate to each other, has considerable validity. Two books in particular deserve to be mentioned in this context: A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen (2006), by Cliff Zukin, Scott Keeter, Molly Andolina, Krista Jenkins, and Michael X. Delli Carpini; and The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics (2008), by Russell Dalton. What lends these works special relevance and special importance is their vigorous challenge to the still-prevalent stereotype of youth civic indifference. This they 46 defining the new leadership do in two ways. First, they complicate the meaning of “engagement” by including in the concept a broader range of activities than has often been acknowledged. Zukin and his coauthors, for example, distinguish between political and civic engagement in a way that not only makes them complementary but also recognizes the importance of each. In their view, neither form of engagement is sufficient by itself to maintain a healthy democracy. Furthermore, they stress that the line between the two is far less distinct than many suppose. Indeed, this is one of the key conclusions they draw from their research: “First, the line between civic and political engagement is blurry at best, with as many as half of those engaged in civic activities seeing or treating their actions as political. Second, this line is also a porous one, with many of the citizens we have characterized as civic specialists also expressing their public voice in other arguably political, if not always or obviously electoral or government-focused ways” (Zukin et al. 2006, p. 199). Thus, they caution us against dismissing as an obviously inadequate substitute for traditional political activity the various forms of local, hands-on engagement that many young people tend to favor. Civic, as distinguished from political, activity has considerable value. And while it may not be sufficient by itself to keep democracy healthy, neither is traditional political activity by itself. When students at a Wingspread conference in 2001 insisted that their community-based activities were an “alternative politics” rather than an “alternative to politics,” they were making much the same point: “Many of us at Wingspread perceive service as alternative politics, as a method of pursuing change in a democratic society. We want to address immediate problems in our communities as a way to begin. Building relationships with others through service is often preparatory to building a movement , as we learn skills that can help us take on the roles of community organizers ” (The New Student Politics 2002, p. 2). Zukin and his associates lend even greater credibility to the students’ position when at another point they note that, besides the intersecting spheres of civic and political engagement, one must also recognize two other kinds of engaged activity : “One is public voice, the ways citizens give expression to their views on public issues. Included here are activities such as signing petitions, engaging in e-mail campaigns, starting or contributing to political...