School of Education Professor Presents Research on Adaptive Leadership

On October 28th, Dr. Cris Wildermuth was a presenter at the Boston International Leadership Association Conference.  Leadership researchers, educators, and practitioners from all over the world attended the conference including Dr. Ronald Heifetz (author of “The Practice of Adaptive Leadership” and Dr. Fred Fiedler (father of the Contingency Leadership Theory). 

The title of Dr. Wildermuth’s presentation was “Using Simulations in the Application of the Case in Point Method to Teach Adaptive Leadership.”  During the presentation, Dr. Wildermuth discussed the “Case in Point”  method of teaching leadership, which she currently adopts for her ALOP 253 (Organizational Development and Leading Change) class.  The main premise of the “Case in Point” method (pioneered by Dr. Ronald Heifetz, from Harvard) is that everything that happens in a classroom – including relationships among students, perceptions of the instructor, requests for extensions of due dates, etc. – is incorporated in the class discussions.  Dr. Wildermuth’s co-presenters were Dr. Alma Blunt, from Duke University, and Dr. Linnette Werner, from University of Minnesota.