Critical Reflection for Public Life: How Reflective Practice Helps Students Become Politically Engaged

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Notes

1. The balcony-dance floor metaphor is foundational to the teachings of Ronald A. Heifetz, cofounder of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. I had the good fortune of studying with Heifetz for several years in graduate school, and his work continues to be a strong influence in my own evolving leadership pedagogy.

2. Marshall Ganz, Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, introduces his students to their roles as “border crossers” in his popular class called, “Organizing People, Power and Change.”

3. Three books I would recommend about the work of the IAF are: Going Public, by Michael Gecan; Roots for Radicals, by Edward T. Chambers and Michael A. Cowan; and Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church, by Samuel C. Freedman.