Leadership Through the Special Olympics

Abstract

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INVOLVES ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE (Kolb, 1984). We sought to teach leadership to baccalaureate nursing students using a Special Olympics volunteer experience as an experiential learning exercise. Founded in 1968, the Special Olympics is a volunteer organization that provides yearround sports training and athletic competition to adults and children with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this learning activity was to have students participate in a civic engagement opportunity and observe how leadership behavior emerges in a semi-structured environment. Our goal was twofold: to provide experience working with a vulnerable population that students will encounter in nursing practice, and to provide an opportunity to critically assess leadership behaviors as they emerged during the day's activities.Method In summer 2011, 62 accelerated BSN students enrolled in a nursing leadership, management, and contemporary issues class. One class objective was to incorporate concepts, theories, and principles of leadership and management into professional nursing practice. We designed a three-part assignment to reinforce this objective. First, the president of the local Special Olympics came to the classroom to speak about the organization and leadership structure, experiences with managing and leading the organization, and working with vulnerable populations from a leadership standpoint. Second, students used class time to work in small groups, as volunteers, at one of various sports at the Special Olympics summer games. Third, the students wrote group papers to reflect on their experiences, discuss how leaders and followers emerged, and apply leadership theory to the experience.We evaluated the student's ability to apply leadership theory to the volunteer experience and to create linkages to nursing practice. The student's overall experience was assessed through the group assignment and an anonymous voluntary survey. For the survey, we asked students to use a five-point Likert-type scale to indicate their agreement or disagreement with three statements: 1) I was able to apply concepts of leadership to the Special Olympics. 2) I am able to apply my Special Olympics experience to nursing experience. 3) I enjoyed the Special Olympics experience.Outcomes Twelve groups of five students collaborated on the papers. The group papers indicated that students were able to effectively apply concepts and theories of leadership to the Special Olympics experience. Students incorporated leadership concepts ranging from servant and authentic leadership theories, to leadership style and philosophy. All groups successfully identified how leaders and followers emerged during the Special Olympics event.We evaluated the student's ability to apply leadership theory to the volunteer experience and to create linkages to nursing practice. The student's overall experience was assessed through the group assignment and an anonymous voluntary survey. For the survey, we asked students to use a five-point Likert-type scale to indicate their agreement or disagreement with three statements: 1) I was able to apply concepts of leadership to the Special Olympics. …