Graduation Term

2023

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

School of Communication

Committee Chair

Byron Craig

Committee Member

Lance Lippert

Abstract

This paper presents an original interpretation of the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM) in order to provide youth basketball coaches with a tool for practicing and teaching servant leadership principles in their program. Because scholars and coaches both have a long tradition of borrowing leadership styles from other areas of study, adapting them, and examining their potential applicability to sport (Westre, 2003), many youth basketball coaches use servant leadership theory to inform their approach to coaching. While this is sufficient for coaching philosophy development, Robert Greenleaf (1977) did not identify the specific skills that define servant leaders, nor did he provide a standard model for putting his theory into practice and teaching its principles to others. As a result, many coaches who want to use his theory to inform their practice have difficulty doing so, as there is no model available for implementing it in a youth sport context. The author argues that SCM is a reasonable model for actualizing the goals and principles of servant leadership theory given the value each framework places on (a) contributing to the individual growth of others, (b) highlighting the connection between individual, community, and society, and (c) creating positive social change. Then, based on the suggestion that curricular leadership development models can be effectively adapted for use in extracurricular contexts (Sherman et al., 2017), the author adapts SCM for use in a youth basketball program. Ideally, this research will empower youth basketball coaches to use the game as a platform for teaching young people the values, skills, and competencies needed to build and sustain a more just, equitable, and inclusive society.

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2023.20231004061828461744.999976

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