Teaching and Learning Servantleadership in the Outdoors

In the field of outdoor education a great deal of emphasis has been placed on evaluating instructional processes as they are used to develop leadership competencies (Berman & Berman, 2009; Buell, 1981; Gabriel, 2015; Green, 1981; Holladay & Sklar, 2012; Martin, Cashel, Wagstaff, & Breunig, 2006; Priest, 1984, 1986; Raiola & Sugerman, 1999). A limited body of outdoor leadership research has evaluated particular leadership frameworks, such as situational leadership theory (Hersey & Blanchard, 1981; Gabriel, 2015), to determine if leadership practices align with a particular leadership model in question. To advance professional knowledge of outdoor leadership theory and practice, the outdoor education field needs additional research documenting the application and effectiveness of available leadership models. This research introduces principles of servant-leadership (Greenleaf, 2002) as a basis for an outdoor leadership training curriculum. Specifically, this project sought to explicate student experiences of training in servant-leadership and their ability to apply a servant-leadership model in an outdoor leadership context. As this model has been primarily used to examine leadership in a business realm, its application has not been documented within an outdoor education setting. This study examines the effectiveness of a servant-leadership model as applied to outdoor leadership training (Paris & Peachey, 2013; Russell & Stone, 2002).