Abstract:
Internships and professional development courses are being utilized in colleges of agriculture to prepare students for the workplace. The author believes that the purpose of a professional development class is to encourage students to move from a state of dependence to a state of self-directedness; thus preparing students to move from the confines of the college campus to the openness of the real world. In order to accomplish this purpose, it is the author's opinion that professional development courses must move beyond traditional lectures and guest speaker series, and move towards an environment that develops self-directedness. This may be accomplished through creative leadership. In the spring of 2002, twenty-one non-teaching students within Oklahoma State University's agricultural education department enrolled in the newly revised professional development course to prepare for their summer internships. The course, including types of assignments and evaluation criteria, was designed based on the writings of Knowles (1998), particularly in the area of creative leadership and its impact on learning. The instructor found that, through creative leadership, curriculum can be designed and implemented with the purpose of helping move students from dependence to self-directedness; thus, helping to prepare them for the workplace.
Keywords:
professional development, creative leadership
 Download Article | [ ] | 762 kB |
