Service-Learning and Character Development: An Analysis of Up with People Resulting in a Model of Global Citizens for Servant Leadership

The purpose of this study was to investigate and examine the effectiveness the stakeholders of the Up with People program have in preparing students to become servant leaders. The purpose of this study also was to examine service-learning concepts that educators practice to evaluate conditions that promote values and ethics as an impetus for introducing servant leadership as a viable means of transformation across international educational facilities. The study was qualitative, emphasizing an evaluation of the Up with People organization. A purposeful sampling of eleven leaders were interviewed from the Up with People organization to answer the following research questions: What is the current status of Up with People’s leaders’ knowledge, motivation, and organization influences needed to produce servant leaders? What solutions and recommendations in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources may be appropriate for Up with People’s leadership and service program? and, What components of the Up with People program are participants receiving in terms of leadership and service that cannot be found in a traditional education program? The outcome of the study resulted in the leaders’ knowledge, motivation, and organization being effective in producing servant leaders for twenty-three validated needs. One of the validated needs was that the leaders in the program know how to develop servant leaders as evidenced in their curriculum. The reinforcement of the service-learning component contributes to becoming a servant leader. An example of a non-validated need was that the leaders did not know how to develop the next generation of leaders for the organization. A solution to addressing the non-validated need is that a junior member of the Up with People program would become an integral member of the executive management team. The junior membership will result in an expansion of social media to advertise Up with People and how their mission will encourage the development of young people as servant leaders