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Bonner Leadership Project
What is a Bonner Leadership Project?
The purpose of the Bonner Leadership Project is to provide you with a framework for applying your knowledge to real world situations. Working either individually or in groups, you will coordinate with your site leaders to define a project that fits your needs as well as those of the community partner. Ideally, your project will represent a sustainable contribution to the site.
THE PROCESS:
Student Learning Outcomes:
Through participation in the Bonner Leadership Project, a Bonner Leader will:
· Identify professional, personal, and leadership skills they wish to acquire or enhance.
· Develop Learning Goals related to achieving these skills.
· Identify, with site leader, needs of the site that can provide a platform for the creation of a Bonner Leadership Project.
· Design and Implement a Bonner Leadership Project that addresses both their Learning Goals and their site’s needs.
· Assess her or his experience in the form of a portfolio reflection of the project.
Developing Learning Goals
Before you decide on a specific Bonner Leadership Project, it is important for you to set goals concerning what you wish to learn from the process. A learning goal is a statement of what you hope to learn or accomplish through the project. These learning goals may focus on developing or enhancing specific skills (such as time management or public speaking) or gaining a deeper understanding of one or more of the Six Common Commitments.
Developing learning goals that are clearly stated is key to helping you shape your Bonner Leadership Project. Being intentional about the goals that you set at the beginning of this process will help you be able to assess your progression towards achieving them.
The Bonner Foundation offers the following list of skills that you may wish to consider when developing your learning goals:
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Bonner Leadership Project
Personal Skills
Active Listening
Balance/boundaries
Communication
Decision making
Organization
Planning
Reflection
Time management
Goal setting
Leadership Skills
Conflict resolution
Delegation
Planning
Public speaking
Running a meeting
Teamwork
Working with diverse groups
Professional Skills
Budgeting
Evaluation/research
Event planning
Fundraising
Grant writing
Marketing/public relations
Mediation
Networking
Public education/advocacy
Volunteer management
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Bonner Leadership Project
Six Common Commitments
* Social Justice: Advocate for fairness, impartiality, and equality while addressing systemic social and environmental issues.
* Civic Engagement: Participate intentionally as a citizen in the democratic process, actively engaging in public policy and direct service.
* Community-Building: Establish and sustain a vibrant community personal relationships and common interests.
* Spiritual Exploration: Explore personal beliefs while respecting the spiritual practices of others.
* International Perspective: Develop international understanding that enables individuals to participate successfully and sensitively in a global society.
* Diversity: Respect and engage the many different dimensions of diversity in our public lives.
Ask yourself:
Are there any concepts related to a common commitment I would like to explore?
What are the Personal Skills I want to develop?
What are the Leadership Skills I want to develop?
What are the Professional Skills I want to develop?
Are my Learning Goals meaningful? Measurable? Manageable?
Have I stated my goals clearly?
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Bonner Leadership Project
I am interested in either developing or enhancing these three:
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Bonner Leadership Project
Personal Skills
Leadership Skills
Professional Skills
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Bonner Leadership Project
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Bonner Leadership Project
Identify which of the Common Commitments you may wish to explore through your work this year, or which you think will be related to the work that your site performs.
Identifying Site Needs
In addition to helping you achieve your learning goals, your Bonner Leadership Project must attempt to address an authentic need of your site. The community partners that you work with have a variety of needs. These needs will differ depending on various factors. The population(s) served by the site, the funding and space available to the site, and the mission of the site often play a role in determining the priorities that our community partners set for their needs.
The best method of identifying your site’s needs is also the easiest in most cases: ask your site supervisor. This may seem obvious, but many of us often let our assumptions about our site (or the population it benefits) form the basis of our understanding of its needs. Your site may have needs in areas that you may not foresee.
As you discuss site needs with your supervisor, it is important to remember that you will not be able to meet all of the needs of your site through your Bonner Leadership Project. The need(s) you will be able to address, though, should be approached in a thoughtful and intentional manner.
Ask Yourself (And Your Supervisor):
What are the needs of the site?
Which of these needs are relevant to the work I do?
Who benefits from meeting the needs of the site? How?
Designing Your Action Plan
By now you should have developed your Learning Goals and talked with your site leader about their needs. As you begin to plan for your Leadership Project, it is important that you approach it in an intentional manner from the onset. This will not only help you plan effectively, but will help you understand the possible impact your project can have on your site and your learning.
What is the best way to do this? Go “around the wheel” with the Elements of Thought! The Paul-Elder Framework for Critical Thinking (left) is a helpful tool for reasoning through any situation, problem, or life event you will may encounter.
Using the P-E Framework
The P-E framework for critical thinking lists eight elements to consider to help clarify your thinking on a subject. The process does not have to be linear, though. Depending on your goals for thinking through an issue, you may be most interested in examining only certain aspects of your thinking. Remember: There is no “RIGHT” or “WRONG” way to use the framework.
The following can be found in The Aspiring Thinker’s Guide to Critical Thinking by Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul. These questions can be used as prompts to help you examine each element of your thinking.
Think About the Purpose:
“Your purpose is what you are trying to achieve or make happen.”
Ask Yourself:
What is my purpose?
What am I trying to do?
Is my purpose in line with my Learning Goals and my site’s needs?
State the Question:
“The question lays out the problem and helps us understand what we need to do to solve it.”
Ask Yourself:
What question am I trying to answer?
Is my question clear?
Should I be asking a different question?
Gather the Information:
“The information is the facts, evidence, or experiences you use to figure things out.”
Ask Yourself:
What information do I need to answer the question?
How can I get this information accurately?
Is the information I have relevant to my purpose?
Check Your Inferences:
“Inferences are conclusions that you come to. It’s what the mind does in figuring something out.”
Ask Yourself:
What conclusions am I coming to?
Are there other conclusions I should consider?
Is my inference logical?
Question Your Assumptions:
“Assumptions are beliefs you take for granted. Usually we don’t question them, but we should.”
Ask Yourself:
What am I taking for granted?
What assumption is leading me to this conclusion?
What assumptions am I making?
Clarify Your Concepts:
“Concepts are ideas you use in thinking to understand what is going on and to figure out how to act in a situation.”
Ask Yourself:
What idea comes to mind when I think of my project?
What idea am I using in my thinking?
Can I explain my idea clearly?
Understand Your Point Of View:
“Point of view I what you are looking at and the way it looks to you.”
Ask Yourself:
What am I looking at? And how am I seeing it?
Is there another reasonable way to look at this situation?
Do I try to see things from the point of view of others?
Think Through the Implications:
“An implication is that to which our thinking is leading us.”
Ask Yourself:
If I decide to do (or not to do) “X,” what things might happen?
What are the possible consequences of this action?
What are the implications of what I want to do?
Determining Resources Available
There are many resources to consider when you are designing your Bonner Leadership Project. Your site leader will be able to help you determine which resources they are able to supply. Depending on the project, these may include physical space, funding for materials, or advice and guidance. It is important that you consider other resources that are available for your use as well. Think creatively as you brainstorm. You do not want to limit your understanding of the resources you have available to you.
Ask Yourself:
What are the resources that I have available to help implement this project?
Are there resources that I may not be considering?
What resources am I assuming I will be able to use?
Who can help me find the resources I do not have access to yet?
Assessing Your Project
“We do not learn from doing, we learn from thinking about what we do.”[1]
Reflection is a continuous part of your Bonner Leadership Project. No matter what step in the process you are working on, taking the time to reflect on both what you have done and what you need to do is vital to creating a meaningful project. After you finish implementing your Bonner Leadership Project, you will assess your progress towards meeting both your learning goals and the needs of the site.
No matter the form of reflection you choose, recording your thoughts throughout the project is an important piece of the process. At the end of the year, any information you have collected will help you as you prepare for your presentation and portfolio. With this in mind, it may be a good idea for you to keep a running journal while you work on your Bonner Leadership Project.
[1] “Service Reflection Toolkit”, Northwest Service Academy, http://www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org/tools_resources/docs/nwtoolkit.pdf, retrieved October 1, 2009.