Morgan Douglas

Professor Arnold
Ethnography Stage 3
November 11, 2014
Leadership Learning Community
The Leadership Learning Community is most concerned with discovering individual
natural strengths, practicing and mastering the strengths, and developing them into talents in
order to become leaders in the world. As members of the community view it, everyone has
positive strengths to be practiced. The leadership learning community is closer as a group than
other learning communities on campus. Because of this, they are able to communicate and get
along better than other learning communities on campus.
Learning communities in general, have a goal to model the self-initiating learner
working in concern with peers, constructively(Hord 41). The Leadership Learning Community
is a specific community in which students are taught to become leaders by doing service projects,
personal interviews with the public, and other projects to improve social skills. These students
focus mainly on their individual strengths. Knowing their own strengths can help the students to
be more confident in themselves and therefore more successful in their future. This community
shows freshmen students how to handle themselves in professional situations i.e. meetings,
public speaking, actions in the work force, job interviews, etc.
The Leadership Learning Community requires two college courses: Group
Communications, and Freshmen Seminar. The main focus of the leadership freshmen seminar
class is to understand the strengths in yourself, and others, in a positive way. This class teaches
that each students strengths can be used positively, if properly practiced. In order to properly

practice ones own strengths, each strength much be carefully studied by knowing what jobs are
best for which strengths, or knowing what kind of other strengths the students would best
associate with.
The Group Communications class is designed to teach how to communicate and behave
in small groups. What is learned through this class can be applied in the professional working
world. Because these classes focuses on seeing others, as well as yourself, optimistically, and the
group as a whole is able to speak their concerns professionally, arguments and quarrels is
reduced drastically. It is never a worrisome moment when the professor says the words, group
project because of the professional comfort level that each student has with one another.
The studies within this class are designed to teach each individual to appreciate a positive
motive for every negative action of another. Because of this study, students in the community
can over-look bothersome qualities of another without a problem. If another students actions are
irritating, another student can understand how the action is a benefit to the students natural
strength. This mutual understanding within the learning community creates a non-judgmental
atmosphere. This personal confidentiality within the community is a result of each member
looking past the annoying attributes in others. The fact that students are very open and honest
with their struggles and inner feelings in class makes the other students feel trusted; and it creates
more respect within the relationship of the group as a whole.
Within every group, there is some sort of conflict. The leadership learning community is
taught that conflict is good, but arguments and fights are not. In the Leadership Learning
Community there is some tension between the professors assistant graduate students, and some
of the students. It was discussed in class that there was some miscommunication with the emails
sent between the students and the graduate assistants. After the issue was introduced the pair of

assistants and the pair of students examined exactly what the miscommunication was, and the
issue was cleared up within a matter of minutes. This type of professional discourse is healthy
for students in college because it practices experience with conflict and how to handle a
conflicting situation. Had the students not previously been taught how to handle situations such
as this, the problem could have gone completely awry. Students in the leadership learning
community will be much further prepared than other college students that have not had any kind
of work experience.
Another source of conflict was discovered after an interview with some of the leadership
learning community members. It was said that in one of the dorm rooms, housing four girls
currently attending the learning community, there are several issues between the girls. Due to
excessive volume levels of the music played on a daily basis, and loud conversations in the late
hours of the night, two of the girls are unsatisfied with their other two roommates. The girls have
talked about this problem as a group, and even taken it a step further by talking to the R.A. of
their hall. The fact is that no matter how much is said about the situation, the only people that
have control over the situation are the two girls causing the problem. This is because at the
beginning of the year the issues were not addressed in the roommate agreement, therefore
nothing can be done by the dorm management. As far as conflict is concerned, these are the only
two known cases of negative conflict discourse.
Of these two issues of discourse only one case is currently resolved, whereas the other is
a work in progress. The difference between these and other learning community problems, is the
process in which the complications were working toward positive conclusions. Due to stories
told by other learning communities on campus, it is known that situations are not handled in a
professional manner such as the ones used in the leadership learning community. For instance,

some of the boys rooming together are upset at their roommate because his messy room. The
horrible smell and disgusting mess in his room cause the suite to be failed twice in the health
inspection. The roommates to not want to hurt the messy roommates feelings so they do not try
to tell him to clean his room. If these four boys could have been taught how to handle this sort of
situation in the Group Communications class the issue may have been resolved a long time ago,
and with no hurt feelings along the way.
While attending Learning Community classes, each student takes on a newer, more
professional, way of speaking to one another. Many students begin the class with several
compliments toward one another, in order to lighten the mood of their classmates. Others walk in
and immediately begin hugging everyone in the classroom. The closeness of the members stems
from the many team building activities that the students take part in together. Activities such as
the low ropes course, movie nights, and lazar tag are scheduled outside of class time, and are a
requirement if one wishes to remain apart of the Leadership Learning Community.
An interesting phenomenon that was noticed during the observation was that when one
student encounters a fellow Learning Community member in the classroom; they act as if there
has been zero contact between them in weeks. Even though the students had just seen each other
minutes before hand in their dorm rooms upstairs, their reactions prove differently in the
classroom. This shows that the classroom provides a comfortable and familiar environment in
which all members can relate. This type of interaction creates a family-like environment for the
students in the Learning Community.
After an interview with a member of the Health Learning Community, the differences
between the two learning communities were obvious. The members of the Health Learning
Community are a close group because of the living arrangements and class time that the students

spend together; but in comparison, it is nowhere close to the family style communication within
the Leadership Learning Community. The Health Learning Community does not have activities
outside of class time; instead the group watches a movie during class. This means that the
students do not go out of their way to spend time with their group.
One of the most important reasons that the leadership group is so close is because each
member bonds by waking up early on a Saturday morning to do something that, at first, sounds
entirely undesirable. Once the activity actually begins, however, members grow closer and the
bond between them is strengthened. Once the activity is completed, each member feels
accomplished and walks away pleased that they attended this activity. In other words, it was
worth the effort of waking up early and going to the activity because free time was spent doing
something that creates memories with new friends.
The Leadership Learning Community activities outside of class, group work inside the
classroom, the strong trust that had been built between the members, the strong communication
skills, and the positive view for ones self is why this learning community is closer as a group
than other learning communities on campus. The Leadership Learning Community leaders teach
the members because they realize two important things. The leaders know that all of these things
put together creates a friend group that will last all of the years of college, and gives the
members experience that will enable them to be prepared when they enter the professional
working world.