The Social Justice Leadership Retreat: A Phenomenological Case Study of Students’ Construction of Race and its Influence on Beliefs, Behavior, and Actions

Abstract

This study examines students’ participation in an intensive intercultural experience, the Social Justice Leadership Retreat. The study utilizes the Intercultural Maturity Model, leadership and democracy outcomes as a framework for the research. Specifically, the study investigates how this experience impacts the ways students make meaning of racial issues, the students’ beliefs about their capacity for leadership and democratic action, and behavior as it relates to social justice action. Results suggest that students attending this experience developed more complex cognitive skills, cultivated belief and motivation in their ability to take action, and engaged in social justice action as a result of attending the retreat.