Experiential Education

This course will explore the central concept of ethical leadership. Because this is a complex topic, students will wrestle with the uncertainty and ambiguity that accompany any discussion of morality. Students will work introspectively to examine their personal leadership styles in order to gain a better understanding of their own extrinsic and intrinsic motivations before looking outward. Students will also take an interdisciplinary approach to explore the concept of ethical leadership by examining wider perspectives that will be gained through reading theory and case studies. As we unpack the concept of ethical leadership by looking at ourselves and others, we will explore several defining questions, including:

• How does ethical leadership apply to my life presently, as well as in my future?
• What are the responsibilities of leaders to establish ethical climates in their organizations and communities, and what are the tensions between these two spheres? 
• What is the role of emotional intelligence and empathy in a leader’s decision-making and how does compassion connect with morality and ethical decision-making?

Students will develop a toolbox they can reach for when faced with ethically complex challenges in their lives beyond the classroom. Ultimately, this course will push students to better understand the pathways through which they are already making ethical decisions, and as they reflect and learn, they will start to think about ethical leadership in deeper, more complex ways. Life is about navigating the gray areas—the complexities that don’t have a clear one-size-fits-all answer—and this class will foster an ethical fitness in students to help build their propensity for not just working their way through that ambiguity, but for leading others in that process.

This class will feature a highly interactive learning environment, requiring students to reflect, take risks, and actively engage in class activities and discussion each day. There will be a term long leadership internship with middle school teachers culminating in a written capstone/presentation of the students' leadership statement. There is a degree of risk-taking involved in being a leader that students will gain experience with through the format of this class.

This course will prepare students to be thoughtful and effective agents of change within organizations and communities. Through theoretical foundations, skill building, and practical application of social change theory in community settings, students will explore the following questions: 

• What is the history of the non-profit sector in the United States, and how has that history shaped social change work today? What are the limitations of non-profit organizations in the advancement of justice? 

• Besides the non-profit sector, in what other contexts do social change movements operate? What strategies do movements employ and to what effect? 

• How do my social identities and personal narratives impact my perspectives, realities, and worldviews? How do they impact my role in social change work? 

Students will navigate these questions by learning from legacies of social change-makers, collaborating with community-based groups/organizations, engaging in dialogue with each other, and developing a reflexive practice (attending to the cultural, political, social, and ideological origins of one’s own perspective and voice). 

Students will be required to participate in a two-day community engagement field trip during school hours, TBD days in January, 2024, followed by deeper engagement with one organization throughout the semester. This course both uses and questions best practices in “service-learning,” including identifying issues of reciprocity, cultural humility, power relationships, and links to classroom learning. Students will demonstrate skills and habits of reflection through observation, critical analysis, writing, and engaging with others in supportive discourse. Students will engage with a diversity of texts and experts in the social change field, examine community opportunities and solutions of personal relevance, and reflect on their own past and present experiences of social change within various spheres of life, including families, neighborhoods, communities, schools, and other systems.  

This course will provide students with the opportunity to learn about leadership and wilderness first aid in the classroom while gaining skills and experience in the out-of-doors on weekends. Students will attend class during the academic day for 4 times out of the 8 day cycle throughout fall semester and have free block for the remaining days. Students will also be required to participate in a 4 day backpacking trip, Oct. 11-14, 2023. Students will then need to participate in at least 4 days worth of trips over the course of the year to complete this credit, with one of these trips as an Upper School Leader on a Middle School trip. In the classroom portion students will be required to pass a wilderness first aid course addressing all of the major causes and treatments of problems and injuries in the wilderness. Students may select trips that introduce them to low-impact camping, backpacking, map and compass navigation, kayaking, rafting, snowshoeing, rock climbing, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, and wilderness first aid. The class will be limited to 12 people to accommodate wilderness use size limits.

Fall trips have included: river kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, backpacking, avalanche awareness, mountaineering, and wilderness first aid.

Spring trips have included: mountaineering, winter camping, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, rafting, sea kayaking, avalanche safety, and rock climbing.