SCS412 SERVANT-LEADERSHIP REFLECTION PAPER 3 Credits

This course allows every level 4 student to demonstrate their understanding of the Christian Social
principles through a supervised piece of work. The prerequisite of this course is that the student must
have completed, or at least must have significantly developed their end of year project. In other words,
this paper is a reflexive analysis the project that learners would have undertaken in their respective
disciplines and areas of specialization. In this supervised exercise, the learner is guided to identify and
to carry out an informed analysis of their own professional study based on the principles of the
Christian Social teaching.

HOW TO WRITE THE CATHOLIC STUDIES FINAL PAPER

At the end of their training at CUIB, Senior year students should be able to appreciate the moral value
of their research as presented in their end of year project. In a separate write-up (5 to 10 pages), each
student is expected to demonstrate this ability.
It consists in carrying out a critical reading of their own professional project, based on the key moral
principles which are central to social ethics: the dignity of the human person; the Common Good; the
Universal Distribution of Goods; Participation; Subsidiarity and human Solidarity. In practical terms, they
include: stewardship of Creation or environmental concerns; preferential Option for the poor; Promotion
of Peace
This chapter will be supervised by Fr Michel (Dla) and by (Br Singfred) of Catholic Studies. Upon approval,
it will be evaluated by the lecturer involved and submitted to the school of Catholic Studies as evidence
of completion.
This paper will be entitled ‘Servant-leadership reflection on project,’ presented in three parts:
I. A summary of professional project
II. Servant-Leadership Analysis based of Christian social principles
III. Implications and Ethical Recommendations

I. A summary of Professional Project

In this section, students are expected to present a clear summary of their project. It must be presented
in a less technical language, allowing a basic understanding of:
a. Why that topic was chosen (its relevance);
b. How the topic is articulate in the report;
c. Ethical implications and benefits of the project.
d. What is servant-leadership? How does it add to your learning experience at CUIB? How does
it bring added value to the work of a professional?

II. Servant-Leadership Analysis

This is the main section of this chapter where students are expected to demonstrate their ability to
integrate important social principles into professional experiences.
What is important here is the student’s ability to identify what principles are involved; how does the
issue or experience treated take into considerations the social principles? Or how are the social principles
challenged by the ideas of the research?
To make this decision, student should consider:
• The nature of the product or service they are offering? Are the products morally bad or good?
How does it relate to human life? What can it add to human life? By its nature can the good or
service human dignity or improve on the conditions that make human life more fulfilling?

• The process involved in the production and distribution of the goods and services involved? Are
the products produced or shared in a humane way? Or do they create other problems that are
toxic or hurtful to any humans involved? Is there provision for minorities? Who are those who
suffer the most for product to reach the market. Are human beings involved in the process
treated in a dignified manner?
• The implications in terms of sustainability and just distribution after production. Is the
environment catered for? Who benefits the most from the product or service and who does not?
Is the profit or sales price exaggerated? Is production sustainable? Where does the raw material
coming from? What happens to industrial waste?

A good resource that can guide learner’s understanding and choice of principles relevant to their work
is:
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2004), The Vocation of the Business Leader. A
Reflection. Rome
This document shows how the principles applies to an entrepreneurial business environment.
The appendix section (Page 26) is particularly relevant, as asks keys questions with
indicators on how the social principles apply to business experiences.

Having identified a few principles, investigate them further by drawing from following sources:
ü The scriptural foundations of the principles
ü The Church document from in which the principle is developed (see list of encyclicals and papal
teaching on additional resource.
ü Other related principles, teaching (from Coran, for example), legal documents (universal
declaration of human right; Cameroon Labour Code etc.) which support.

(The supervisor should be able to direct you to encyclicals and their relevant content.
All church documents and encyclicals can be downloaded for free from
www.vatican.va. Or google them and the full document is likely to come up).

Each source should be used wisely, that is, as related to the issues and principles identified in the report.
In other words, analysis must be relevant to the moral issue identified in project or work experience
under study.
A brief conclusion should follow as a summary. It is about the moral Implications and Benefits of the
project should it take seriously, or should it neglect to consider the Christian social principles identified.
The following questions might be helpful:
a) Considering the moral conclusions, what can be done differently in planning, execution, and
distribution to increase the ethical value of the project?
b) What are the factors that should be considered always to sustain the moral value of the project
discussed in the report?
c) If further research and development is required or expected of the project, what are the
ethical factors that must be considered?

Grammar and presentation are key assessment criteria.

Plan of Chapter:
I – Brief summary of project
a) Topic of project
b) How it is articulated in the project
c) The benefit of the project
d) What is servant-leadership? How does it add to your learning experience at CUIB? How does it
bring added value to the work of a professional?

II – Servant-leadership analysis based on the principle of social teaching

a) Identifying the principles
b) Relating the principles identified to existing documents and resources

III – Implications
a) What is the moral value of the project that you worked on?
b) Can you recommend the product, or the services you are studying to someone else based on its
moral value? If so, why?
c) What needs to be corrected in the production or service procedure in order to enhance its moral
value?
d) Describe the moral values that you are willing to bring to other professional experiences having
learnt from this exercise.

Present your work as a coherent piece, with clear arguments for each section. Write in clear English with
short sentences. As you write, keep in mind that you are explaining your work and related topics to a
child. Be mindful of spelling mistakes.

SUPERVISION PROCEDURE
- June 20 is the dateline for all submissions. After this date all work will be considered late
submission and the supervisor is not responsible. Consider submitting early enough in order to
give your supervisor at least 5 working days for feedback.
- Students can submit part of their work in progress for supervisor’s appraisal or correction.
- The works is considered satisfactory when the students gets “APPROVED” from the supervisor
after a full submission. Without an ‘approved’ the work is subject to further corrections and so
does not meet evaluation criteria.
- All submission shall be done by EMAIL ONLY and the student is expected to use the same email
string, that is, exchanging with supervisor by clicking ‘reply’ to the same conversation. Starting a
new conversation might penalise the student under the assumption that they did not seek
sufficient supervision.
- All work must have a cover page with the title of the student’s project clearly spelt out.
- Make sure the work is thoroughly edited and proofread before submission. Poor grammar and
poor presentation will cost the student some points.