2016 Annual Conference

This session presents findings of a qualitative, multiple-case study. Both curricular and co-curricular best practices are described with regards to the development of global leadership competencies addressed in seven selected adult education graduate programs located in the United States and Western Europe.

The target audience includes professors and instructors in adult education graduate programs, practitioners in the field of leadership, global studies, and curriculum development; and graduate students who want to gain insight into self-directed techniques for developing their own global leadership competencies while completing their graduate school program.

Researchers in the field of global leadership have reported a growing need for leaders able to perform from a global perspective, as well as the lack of qualified leadership candidates to fulfill these responsibilities. Adult education graduate programs represent a unique pool of aspirants to help fill this gap. Specific findings from this study sought to explore the connection between the phenomenon of global leadership competencies, identified by Bird’s (2013) framework of nested global leadership competencies. Fourteen professors from seven selected adult education graduate programs in four countries were interviewed for this qualitative, multiple-case study.
One of the questions that guided this study explored which curricular and co-curricular practices were identified in the development of these competencies in the selected adult education graduate programs. Findings indicated multiple curricular and co-curricular themes emerged as best practices to facilitate development of the global leadership competencies, although they were primarily associated with good instructional practices discussed within the context of globalizing the curriculum. There was less discussion about the competencies within a unifying construct of leadership development. Implications of the findings were directed towards the Commission of Professors of Adult Education (CPAE), university administration, adult education faculty, and adult education graduate students.