EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AKHUWAT COLLEGE FOR WOMEN CHAKWAL

Abstract

This exploratory study investigates higher education students’ readiness at Akhuwat College for Women Chakwal to learn leadership competencies and apply them in practical leadership scenarios through experiential learning. The underlying theoretical framework for this study builds upon Dewey’s Experiential Learning, Kolb’s Learning Cycle, and Amartya Sen’s capability approach. The research design is qualitative and includes in-depth interviews with college leadership, teachers, and administration followed by classroom observations. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis. Findings reveal the leadership competencies that students must develop before they can practice leadership. The themes of the activities are mainly roleplay, case studies, and problem-based learning enabling students to better tackle the given scenarios and related tasks in their academic and professional journeys. The different themes of the activities have been designed based on careful classroom observations followed by discussions with the teachers regarding their understanding of students’ needs. These findings subsequently help develop an Experiential Leadership Module for the current students accompanied by a Teaching Guide. This module carries strong implications for students at Akhuwat College Chakwal to develop leadership skills through experiential learning in higher education through extra-curricular activities.