Teaching to learn: A partnership to enhance women’s leadership development

Serving on the Leadership Distinction Program Advisory Board for Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women led Stephen Hill, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Business and Leadership, to form a natural partnership with Mercy faculty and Leadership Distinction Program Coordinators, Elizabeth Decosse and Donna Horn. The objectives of both Dr. Hill’s Introduction to Leadership course and those of the Leadership Distinction Program at Mercy focus on skills and competencies related to being effective leaders. In fall 2020, after several months of planning, the Nazareth and Mercy partnership resulted in college student leaders presenting leadership content to high school leaders -- a mutually beneficial and successful relationship.

Despite constraints that come with virtual learning during a global pandemic, Naz students rose to the occasion and delivered meaningful and engaging lessons to Mercy students who were eager to learn from their college student teachers. As Naz students navigated their own leadership class, they prepared and practiced teaching modules based on the characteristics that are the foundation of Mercy’s program and that also support the successes of women in leadership, such as communication, problem solving, resiliency, global engagement, and the ability to be a healthy risk-taker. Dr. Hill believes that “one of the best ways to really master something was to teach it,” and that through participation in his Intro to Leadership course and their involvement in this project, Nazareth students were active in their own learning, researched leadership topics and prepared lessons, and added value for our community partner.

“The Nazareth students were professional and prepared,” and “the partnership went beyond expectations,” said Ms. Decosse after the first semester of the leadership project. She is pleased that Mercy now has an official connection with Naz and that for her students, the leadership project was “a glimpse into the college world.” For Ms. Horn, the major accomplishment of the Naz/Mercy leadership partnership was the ability of the College student presenters to engage the high school student learners. She noticed that “the more personalized the presentations are, the deeper the self-reflection for Mercy students,” and she believes that from self-reflection comes a richer learning and more lasting impact for her high school students.

Naz students benefited from the collaboration between the College and Mercy too. Through their learning and planning, two Intro to Leadership students in the “problem solving” group discovered: working together = problem solving. Business Leadership major, Rebecca Frail ‘23, shared how she felt a sense of accomplishment when her team was able to successfully brainstorm creative solutions for their presentation, which was something of importance for the success of the project and often stressed by Dr. Hill. She discovered that working together with her team rather than on individual agendas proved beneficial for the overall effectiveness of the final presentation made to the Our Lady of Mercy students.

Similarly, teammate Kayla Barron ‘21, Business Management major, praised the experience of studying leadership and sharing her knowledge with younger students. She said, “during the project I learned that problem solving is very essential in group work because it helps the team be more successful.” She reflected on the semester, and determined that for her, “the greatest accomplishment from this project was being able to interact with the students and teach them about problem-solving and being able to hear their thoughts on what problem-solving means to them.”

The leadership initiative partnership formed between Nazareth College and Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women continues. Students in Dr. Hill’s Introduction to Leadership course for the spring 2021 semester instructed Mercy students on some of the other leadership topics in their Leadership Distinction Program. The details pertaining to the teaching and learning in this project will continue to be refined, improved, and shared with future classes at both institutions. For now, hopes are high for in-person programming in fall 2021.