College.

Bridging the gap between student development theory and leadership facilitation is not difficult.

Unlike crossing this bridge:

In the first reading, I was able to relate Chickering's Psychosocial Theory of Student Development best to SLA.  Essentially, the theory explains that there are seven vectors along which traditionally aged college students develop. However, after reading through all of the vectors, I feel as though this theory better explains the vectors along which traditional student organizations develop. And that's where we come in. We have student facilitators that develop and present workshops that span the seven vectors:

1. Developing Competence
• SLA: Helps student organizations establish direction and set goals through analytical thinking and self-evaluation
2. Managing Emotions
• SLA: Initiates team building activities and teaches problem-solving techniques
3. Developing Autonomy
• SLA: Emphasizes the importace of individual contributions, positional goals, and delegating assigned tasks while understanding the importance of interdependence
4. Establishing Identity
• SLA: Develops marketing strategies with student organizations in order to allow them to best promote their programs, people, or mission
5. Feeing Interpersonal Relationships
• SLA: Educates on the importance of diversity and offers ways to have open dialogue and open doors
6. Developing Purpose
• SLA: Aims to offer new ways of thinking for old ideas that still align with the established purpose of the organization and ensuring that every decision is furthering and matching this purpose
7. Developing Integrity
• SLA: Establishes values with individuals and connects them with the values of the organization and its members to ensure that they are being considered when decisions are being made

I interpreted the second reading on the Leadership Identity Development Model (LID) more in line with the theory's original concept: development of the individual. I found this to be most relational when considering the journey that most Ohio State student's take when identifying which student organizations to join.

1. Awareness: "Recognizing that leadership is 'out there somewhere'..." 
2. Exploration/Engagement: Exploring student organizations and seeking direction from peers, student leaders, or mentors
3. Leader Identified: Not only recognizing who the leaders are, but then also working to emulate their actions in order to take steps to become a leader
4. Leadership Differentiated: Acknowledging that--insert my favorite quote now--"Leadership is action, not position."
5. Generativity: Committing to an organization due to a particular passion for the people or purpose and actively thinking and acting in ways that are for the betterment of the organization
6. Integration/Synthesis: Because this stage envelops the above five stages, this role can be achieved either as a senior member or alumnus of an organization. A leader in this stages recognizes the importance of every role and feels a responsibility to give back--or pay forward--to the organization.

Contrary to the introduction of the assignment, I actually find that numerical steps or stages are easier for me to grasp and identify where a person or organization may be at along their path of leadership development. What I have found that is not relatable to leadership or SLA, however, is this video: