Professional development for leadership educators is important for creating leadership learning opportunities. The LLRC staff believe that it is our responsibility to share what we have found to be valuable in our own professional and personal identities in this discipline, so we have curated this page as a guide to leadership educator resources. While this list is certainly not comprehensive, it is a starting point that will hopefully lead to other resources that are meaningful to you and your work (Guthrie & Jenkins, 2018). For more details, either visit the websites hyperlinked below or refer to The Role of Leadership Educators: Transforming Leadership by Kathy L. Guthrie and Daniel M. Jenkins.
Associations
Various professional associations offer additional resources, conferences, and networking opportunities for leadership educators. Some are student affairs associations that offer leadership learning professional development and some are specifically focused on leadership education.
- Association of Leadership Educators (ALE)
- International Leadership Association (ILA)
- National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP)
- ACPA: College Student Educators International
- The Commission for Student Involvement specifically supports leadership educators.
- NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
- The Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community specifically serves as a resource for leadership educators.
Professional Institutes, Workshops, and Symposia
The professional associations offer various annual conferences, like the International Leadership Association’s Annual Global Conference; however, focused gatherings can offer smaller settings for relationship building and context specific content to apply theory to practice.
- National Leadership Symposium (NLS)
- Typically gathers in the summer and is coordinated by the National Association of Campus Activities and the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs.
- Leadership Educators Institute (LEI)
- Typically occurs towards the end of the fall semester and is coordinated by the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, NASPA, and ACPA.
- Leadership Education Academy (LEA)
- Typically occurs biennially in the summer and is coordinated by the International Leadership Association.
- Social Justice Training Institute
- Typically occurs twice a year and is a forum for personal and professional development for social justice educators. SJTI also hosts a Student SJTI and a renewal experience for alumni called SJTI 2.
Academic Journals and Monographs
High-quality scholarship is continually being produced about leadership education through academic journals/monographs. While there are many to read, reference, and submit your own scholarship to, we have listed ones that are valuable to our own teaching and learning practice; however, it will be important to work with your university library to ensure access to some of the materials listed.
- New Directions for Student Leadership (NDSL)
- Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE)
- Journal of Leadership Studies (JLS)
- Leadership Quarterly (LQ)
- The Journal of Student Leadership
