Virginia 4-H Camping Volunteer Training Modules

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Virginia 4-H CampingVolunteer Training Modules
MODULE 17 BASIC LEADERSHIP STYLES FOR 4-H CAMP
VOLUTEERS
Developed by Barry A. Garst, Ph.D., Assistant
Professor and Extension Specialist 4-H Youth
Development, March 2006
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How to Use this Information

• If you are a 4-H adult volunteer leader
• 1. Review the 4-H camp-related information
  contained in this presentation.
• 2. Consider the Discussion Questions listed on
  the last page.
• 3. Contact your local 4-H Extension Agent (or
  other person responsible for
• 4-H camping in your county/city) to review
  this information.
• If you are a VCE faculty or staff member
  responsible for 4-H camping in your unit
• 1. Review the 4-H camp-related information
  contained in this presentation.
• 2. Use this presentation to support your 4-H camp
  teen/adult volunteer
• leader training.
• 3. Use the Discussion Questions listed on the
  last page as a resource in
• reviewing this information with your 4-H
  camp volunteers.

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Overview

• Leadership styles associated with 4-H camping
• Democratic leadership
• Directive leadership
• Educative leadership

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4-H Camp Leadership

• As a 4-H camp volunteer, you have a certain
  leadership style.
• Your leadership style will effect different
  aspects of your volunteerism, including how you
  perform your 4-H camp responsibilities and how
  you interact with campers and other volunteers.

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Three Leadership Styles

• Directive
• Democratic
• Educative

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Directive Leadership

• When you use a directive leadership approach,
  you tell others what to do.
• With this leadership approach, you can get
  feedback from others, and ask their opinions, but
  you still retain control and you make the final
  decisions.

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Directive Leadership

• Can you think of a situation in which you might
  use a directive leadership approach at 4-H camp?

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Directive Leadership

• In a 4-H camp setting, directive leadership is
  often used during emergency situations or
  situations involving the health, safety, and
  wellness of campers.
• For example, during a 4-H camp fire evacuation,
  you would use a directive leadership approach to
  tell campers exactly how they needed to exit the
  building and where they needed to go next.

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Democratic Leadership

• When you use a democratic leadership approach,
  you ask people what they want to do and you make
  a decision together.
• This approach tends to be flexible and responsive
  to changing conditions.

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Democratic Leadership

• Democratic leadership often generates buy-in
  from others because they have been given the
  opportunity to share their input and to be
  included in the decision-making process (to a
  greater degree than the directive leadership
  approach.)
• When might you use a democratic leadership
  approach at 4-H camp?

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Democratic Leadership

• Democratic leadership is a common leadership
  approach used at 4-H camp. Adult volunteers,
  teen counselors, and summer camp staff often use
  this approach when working campers in order to
  give them input into their 4-H camp experience.
• For example, asking campers what they want to do
  during afternoon recreation and providing them
  with choices.

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Educative Leadership

• When you use an educative leadership approach,
  you model behavior and set an example for others
  to follow.
• With this leadership approach, you have to be
  knowledgeable enough to teach others and to model
  appropriate behavior.

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Educative Leadership

• Why do you think that educative leadership
  might be important in 4-H camp?

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Educative Leadership

• Educative leadership is also a very common
  leadership approach used at 4-H camp, and it is
  exemplified in the way that 4-H camp teen and
  adult volunteers role model appropriate behavior
  and positive character.

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Educative Leadership

• Educative leadership can also be used to role
  model appropriate skills
• Example 1 In canoeing class, a 4-H camp teen or
  adult volunteer who models the correct strokes to
  use when paddling a canoe is using educative
  leadership.
• Example 2 While singing songs, a 4-H camp teen
  or adult volunteer who sings the correct lyrics
  to a song is using educative leadership.

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Selecting a Leadership Style

• People have different leadership styles.
  Furthermore, some people find that a particular
  style is easier for them than other styles.
• These leadership styles can be applied
  individually, or they can be used in combination
  with one another. It depends upon the situation.

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Selecting a Leadership Style

• All three leadership styles (directive,
  democratic, and educative) are valuable and have
  a place at 4-H camp.
• However, they are not all appropriate for the
  same situations.
• As a 4-H camp volunteer, your challenge is to
  select the correct leadership style (or styles)
  for the different situations that you encounter
  at 4-H camp.

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Which style (or styles) would you use?

• Read the following situations and identify the
  leadership style (or styles) that you think would
  be appropriate.
• Situation 1 You are helping the 4-H campers in
  your cabin/lodge with clean-up.
• Situation 2 You are responding to a 4-H
  campers need for help after she sprained her
  ankle.
• Situation 3 You are trying to get 4-H campers
  quiet during an evening program

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Which style (or styles) would you use?

• Situation 4 You are helping a group of 4-H
  campers decide which evening program that they
  will attend.
• Situation 5 A fight breaks out among two 4-H
  campers whom you are supervising.
• Situation 6 You are assisting with a 4-H camp
  riflery class.
• Situation 7 You are helping with a camp group
  meeting, and the campers are not paying attention
  to the teen counselors.

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Discussion Questions

• Review the situations that you were asked to
  consider on the last two slides. What do your
  answers reveal about your leadership style?
• Are there any other major leadership approaches
  that are missing from this module? If so, what
  are they and how are they relevant to your work
  as a 4-H camp volunteer?

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References

• Wilderness Safety Council. (Winter, 2004).
  Leadership Whats your
• style? Wilderness First Aid The Workbook.
  Alexandria, VA
• Wilderness Safety Council and Christopher Tate.