Unit 5 Analysis of Leadership Theory

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Overview

Critical thinking is foundational to graduate education – and leadership. In this unit we will explore critical transformational learning, the development and application of critical thinking in graduate studies, and the critical analysis of leadership theories.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Utilize critical thinking skills to compare servant, transformational and authentic leadership theories.
  
• Analyze leadership theories.

Course Topics

In this unit, we will explore the following topics:

1. Critical Thinking in Graduate Education
   
2. Critical Thinking in Leadership
   
3. Review of Research
   
4. Analysis of Leadership Theories

Unit Resources

Online resources will be provided in the unit.

5.1 Critical Thinking in Graduate Education

On Jan. 9, 2017, Christel Davidson, a student in the Master of Arts in Leadership program, wrote the following post entitled “Designing Our Boxes” in one of her leadership courses. The quote is included here (with her permission), as an introduction to this unit on critical thinking.

“Critical transformational learning is a holistic learning practice that helps people to crawl out of their boxes, experience the space outside the box and then reconstruct their next box which in turn they will crawl out of again and repeat over and over again. I say they will reconstruct their box each time because as human beings we need boundaries to our thought, actions and emotions, and without them, we become unsure of whether anything is concrete or valid, so to feel safe we have our boxes. This is perfectly alright as long as we don’t get stuck in the same box forever.

The value of critical transformational learning is that there is a personal intentionality to the process. This can be guided by an educator or it can happen independently. Each time the learner temporarily exits the box to take a fresh view of life, it is not to throw the person into a state of chaos or abandonment of absolutes, but to give a moment where thoughts can be free to explore other possible points of view or to reflect on habits and unconscious actions that are rooted in their beliefs. Once challenged or left open for review, a critical analysis can be made, conclusions drawn and a shifted belief or value stabilized, by restating or redesigning their box.

“There are endless ways that this can be accomplished, so long as the process evokes the emotions, stimulates the soul and matures the mind” (Davidson, 2017).

In graduate education, critical thinking is a process through which we read, analyze, and think about scholarship and research. Instead of simply thinking about the topic we are studying and making assumptions based on our current knowledge, we instead critically review, analyze, and synthesize the thinking and research of others. Our reasoning, then, is informed by the scholarship of others, who have followed research processes widely accepted in the academic community. Most often, this knowledge is published in peer-reviewed academic journals. These are academic articles that, before being published, undergo rigorous analysis by other scholars to ensure that they meet scholarly standards for research.

“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness” (Scriven & Paul, 1987).

A critical thinker will engage in the following behaviors:

• raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
  
• gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
  
• thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
  
• communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems. (Foundation for Critical Thinking, n.d. para. 10)

As you write academic papers and engage in scholarly discussions as part of the Community of Inquiry in your courses, you will be asked to engage in each of these four strategies of critical thinking.

Consider for a moment:

• How will I ask important questions in the Community of Inquiry?
  
• How will I identify relevant sources and synthesize thinking across these resources?
  
• How will I remain open to new ways of thinking, identifying the underlying assumptions of the authors I read?
  
• How will I continue to refine my written and oral communication skills?

5.2 Critical Thinking in Leadership

The skills of critical thinking that you will develop and use in your graduate studies, can also be adapted and applied within leadership contexts.

Critical thinking is an essential component of leadership because there is an intelligence to practice. Phronesis is a term used for practical wisdom - an intellectual virtue that incorporates both discernment and judgment and is enhanced through practice.

Integrating critical thinking skills into your role as a leader involves the integration of scholarship (what you learn in this program) with your practical experience. Cahalan (2017) identifies eight ways of knowing essential to wise practice:

• Situated awareness
  
• Embodied realizing
  
• Conceptual understanding
  
• Critical thinking
  
• Emotional attunement
  
• Creative insight
  
• Spiritual discernment
  
• Practical reasoning

The combination of experiential learning and scholarly knowledge can be powerful. Experiential learning can lead to wisdom if experience is accompanied by critical thinking and intentionally grounded in values and beliefs about what is good. This wisdom is transformational both personally and professionally. But does that mean that in order to be a leader a person has to wait until s/he has a lot of experience? Not exactly. As you will find as you engage in the scholarly of leadership, it is possible to nurture leadership, develop your leadership skills, and indeed learn how to be a leader.

Although researchers have identified a wide range of leadership traits, five of the most common traits that leaders cultivate are “intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability” (Northouse, 2019, pp. 23-26).

As a graduate student in leadership, you will develop your leadership skills and competencies, cultivate traits and virtues of professional wisdom, and learn how to critically evaluate leadership theory. Through this integration of scholarship and practice, you have the opportunity to enhance your effectiveness and influence as a leader.

5.3 Review of Research

In graduate studies you are expected to think critically, analyze the assertions of others and propose your own ideas based on reasoned evidence and your phronesis. In graduate writing, all assertions, claims, analysis, etc. is built on published research conducted by scholars.

Academic research is most frequently published in academic journals. These are referred to using several common (synonymous) terms (in various configurations):

1. Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

These peer-reviewed academic journal articles provide the foundation for scholarship. Each time you write a paper, discussion posting, report, or other content, you will incorporate these sources into your writing, building an academic argument by referring to (citing) these sources in your written work.

Citing articles that have been published in academic journals is preferred to citing websites, non-academic journals, blogs, etc. Your professors will be able to recommend the journals most prestigious and appropriate in their discipline. Peer reviewed journals:

• are the principal means through which knowledge is advanced
  
• differ from articles published in newspapers and magazines and from chapters published in books
  
• are based on evidence and research.

While newspaper and magazine articles may be helpful in providing up-to-date information on current events, because they are a different genre of writing, they are not considered to be peer-reviewed, academic sources such as articles in academic journals.

2. Academic Journals

Here are four ways in which academic journal articles will improve your scholarship (adapted from Chong, 2015):

1. At some point, students should have first-hand exposure to journal articles.
   • Journals are where the vast majority of researchers report their procedures, findings and limitations of their research.
     
   • In order to understand where new ideas come from, and how fields advance or not, students, especially graduate level students must venture into scholarly journals.
     
   • To encounter social science only through textbooks seems comparable to an English student learning about literature only by reading Coles or Cliff notes or by watching the movie.
     
2. Learning to evaluate journal articles can make you a better researcher.
   • If you become a critical consumer of research, then you can find weaknesses in the existing literature. This is useful for interrogating one’s own work as well as the work of others. You can then pursue your projects with more confidence.
     
3. Learning to evaluate journal articles can be useful for a variety of careers.
   • Do we want our doctors to stop learning the moment they leave medical school? No!
     
   • We need to engage in continuous education and attempt to stay current on research that pertains to our jobs and responsibilities.
     
   • Knowledge is power and also a responsibility. Servant leaders want the best for the people they lead.
     
4. Learning to evaluate journal articles might prove useful whenever you want greater insight into your life or the world around you.
   • Reading the relevant literature can give you a much deeper and more nuanced perspective on social life compared to what is found in ordinary conversation.
     
   • This can make you more intelligent and give you interesting things to contribute the next time the subject comes up.
     
   • You will be able to provide a calmer and thoughtful voice with less judgment and more nuances.

How does a graduate student use critical thinking with peer-reviewed academic journals? If they have been approved and published how can a person critique them? Isn’t that intellectually presumptuous? While journal articles are written by experts in the field, as a critical thinker, when you read them you should keep in mind the following:

• Authors make decisions about what to include.
  
• Research findings can contradict findings published by other authors.
  
• Authors sometimes neglect to include relevant information.
  
• There are differences in authors’ theoretical orientations, definitions, measurement strategies, and findings.
  
• Authors use information selectively and sometimes misleadingly.
  
• Sometimes authors neglect to define terms.
  
• Sometimes there are ambiguities in terms.
  
• Sometimes articles define terms differently.
  
• Sometimes authors implicitly define terms.

3. Scholarly Sources

As you are reading scholarly sources, consider the following questions:

• Are there some important concepts that they authors could have defined but didn’t?
  
• Did the writer fail to include some research you’ve read about in another article in favour or highlighting research that supports their findings?
  
• Can I find a quote where the authors tried to explicitly or implicitly define one or two key concepts?
  
• Can I provide a concrete example that supports or contradicts the author’s definition of terms?
  
• Are there ethical implications with respect to the methodology or findings?
  
• Does the writer have a political agenda? (Who funded the study? What is the writer’s implicit or stated bias?)
  
• Does the structure of the article support the thesis clearly and logically?
  
• Does the article contain a section that outlines and reviews previous studies on this topic?
  
• If the author explained procedures that were followed, are these clear enough that they could be repeated and get similar results?
  
• How can I compare and contrast varying theoretical perspectives on the topic?
  
• Is it possible to show how approaches to the topic have changed over time?
  
• How does what I’m reading intersect with policies and procedures in my field?
  
• Are there biases or stereotypes represented in what I’m reading?

4. Academic Sources

You learn critical thinking through the practice of thinking critically. It is helpful to reflect on Brazilian philosopher, Rubem Alves (1979) comments that everything is interpretation:

“Language functions as a mediation tool between humans and their world. As humans, we don’t contemplate reality face to face. Since birth, things in our world don’t come to us in their naked form, but always dressed up in the names our community has given them. This community has already defined how and what the world is like and, therefore, already knows it (the world). This knowledge of the world is crystallized in our language. Language, therefore, is not a copy of objects and facts. Language is always interpretation.” (Cited in Goodson 2013, p.47)

Like most skills in life, critical thinking, academic analysis, and building an academic argument takes practice. Eventually you will be able to engage in the demanding tasks of academic thinking and writing with less effortful analysis or deliberation. However, your efforts and resiliency, the formative feedback provided by your instructors, and continued engagement with academic writing and thinking will allow you to develop this important academic and leadership skill.

Welcome to the academy of scholars!

5.4 Analysis of Leadership Theories

In this course, you have already engaged in critical thinking about leadership. In Units 2-4, we reviewed and analyzed three leadership theories – servant, transformational, and authentic. Both Northouse (2019) and Rowe & Guerrero (2019) include in their writing both summary information about leadership theories, as well as critical analysis of the research that supports or contradicts theoretical perspectives.

For this second option for Assignment 2, you will engage in a deeper analysis of leadership theory, providing a short analysis of each of the three theories, as well as a deeper analysis of one of the theories that you choose to focus on.

As you prepare for this assignment, you will need to identify several articles from peer-reviewed journals, in order to incorporate additional research to support the academic argument you make in your analysis.

In order to get a good sense of a topic, the following recommended process inspired by the work of Chong (2015) and Goodson (2013) may be helpful:

• Do an initial library search of recommended databases and locate the articles from your key word searches.
  
• Read the abstracts of these articles and move the articles that have potential value to your research questions into a file on your computer.
  
• Now narrow down those articles to the top 5-10 articles most relevant to your research.
  
• Once you have about 5-10 good peer-reviewed articles you are ready to read.
  
• Read all the articles and highlight relevant information, make notes in the margins etc. Look for themes, contradictions, interesting quotes.
  
• Once you have read all the articles you can make a rough outline or plan for your paper and then start writing.
  
• Be careful not to over-quote. Instead, paraphrase using all your own words. To decide whether to quote, consider: If the words are strikingly original or express your key concepts so compellingly that the quotation can frame an extended discussion; if the passage states a view that you disagree with, and to be fair you want to quote it exactly; if the words are from an authority who backs up your claims. This is critical thinking!
  
• Remember, critical thinking means that when you are writing your papers you are not merely reporting the related literature. You are expected to evaluate, organize, and synthesize what others have done and also to think about the implications for your practice, in your context. A successful academic argument is based on evidence from the literature that supports any assertions you make.

Formative Learning Activities (ungraded)

Learning Activity 5.1

Critical thinking is an essential component of both graduate education and leadership. This practical wisdom or phronesis is an intellectual virtue incorporating discernment and judgment and is enhanced through practice. How does a leader in your context incorporate critical thinking? To prime your thinking, view the following videos (total of just under 25 minutes).

Video 1: What is Critical Thinking

Video 2: Example of Lateral Thinking when it matters

Video 3: Edward de Bono Discusses Lateral Thinking

Video 4: Thinking Like a Leader: Critical Thinking Skills and Decision Making for Leaders

Video 5: The Importance of Critical Thinking

Then explore the website criticalthinking.org.

Your review of these resources will prepare you for Assignment 3. The emphasis of this paper is on applied critical thinking in your leadership context.

Learning Activity 5.2

• Review: As you prepare for your Leadership Theory paper (draft due in this unit), review the materials you have read/viewed in previous units, as well as your Reflective Journal and Discussion Posts.

Assignment 2 - Option 2: Critical Analysis of a Leadership Theory (due by Unit 5)

There are 2 options for Assignment 2: (due at the end of Unit 5)

1. Case Study in Leadership or
   
2. Critical Analysis of Leadership Theory

Both options ask you to write a 5-7 page paper focusing on one of the three leadership theories discussed in Units 2, 3, and 4 (servant, transformational, or authentic).

Below, you will find instructions for the Critical Analysis of a Leadership Theory assignment.

In this paper, you will conduct a summary of the three leadership theories we have studied, as well as a critical analysis of one leadership theory you select.

Title Page: Include a title page (APA format)

Introduction: Write an introduction that summarizes the topic and key points you will make in your paper.

Section 1: Using the Critical Thinking resources and other resources from Units 1-4, and building on your discussion posts, write a 1-2 page synopsis of each of the three leadership theories studied (servant, transformational, or authentic). For each leadership theory, include an overview of the theory, key principles, and how this theory aligns with Christianity.

Section 2: Select the leadership theory (servant, transformational, or authentic) that aligns most closely with your values and practice of leadership. Incorporating critical thinking strategies, course resources, and other resources you locate in the TWU library analyze this theory further. Include an 8-10 page analysis of how this leadership philosophy influences organizational outcomes, is used to create effective organizational cultures, and influences a leader’s decisions making.

Conclusion: Write a 1-2 page conclusion that summarizes the key points you have made in your paper.

Reference List: Include a list of references, formatted using APA style, with a minimum of 10 scholarly sources (articles published in academic journals or books). This academic paper should be 10-15 pages in length (plus a title page and reference list). The paper should include a minimum of 10 scholarly sources, including at least 3-5 you locate on your own. The paper should be written using APA format.

Peer Review (Feedback due to your peer by last day of Unit 6)

When you submit your paper on the last day of Unit 5, you will exchange papers with a partner in the class and conduct a peer review for each other. Your peer review should be collegial and should focus on the quality of academic analysis and arguments. Additionally, you should address issues like grammar and structure, however, be sure to spend the majority of your peer review efforts providing feedback on the construction of the academic argument. Use the rubric to assess the paper, and should provide comments for each assessment criterion.

Peer Review Protocol

Upload your paper as an attachment to the “Peer Review Forum” by the end of Unit 5. Your instructor will assign partners and post the partnerships in the description of the forum in Moodle.

Once your partner has posted their paper, review their paper and assess it according to the rubric provided. Make notes about the strengths of your partner’s paper as well as areas to work on (clarify, more analysis, more personal application, etc.).

Post your peer review to your partner’s paper by the end of Unit 6. Please remember that your response will be visible to all members of the class in the forum.

Peer Review Guidance

• Be Kind: Always treat others with dignity and respect. This means we never use words that are hurtful, including sarcasm.
  
• Be Specific: Focus on particular strengths and weaknesses, rather than making general comments like “It’s good” or “I like it.” Provide insight into why it is good or what, specifically, you like about it.
  
• Be Helpful: The goal is to positively contribute to the individual or the group, not to simply be heard. Echoing the thoughts of others or cleverly pointing out details that are irrelevant wastes time.
  
• Participate: Peer critique is a process to support each other, and your feedback is valued!
  
• When critiquing a peer’s work, use “I” statements. For example, “I’m confused by this part,” rather than “This part makes no sense.”
  
• Use questions whenever possible. For example…
  • I’m curious why you chose to begin with…?
    
  • Did you consider adding…?
    
  • What evidence do you have for…?
    
• Remember the three important phrases:
  • “I notice….”
    
  • “I wonder….”
    
  • “If this were my work, I would….”

Final Draft (Due end of Unit 7)

Once you have received feedback from your partner, revise your paper, incorporating your peer reviewer’s recommendations. You are encouraged to interact with your reviewer in the forum if you need clarification. You are not required to address every item that your peer-reviewer mentions in their review of your paper. Submit your final paper to the appropriate assignment by the end of Unit 7.

Assessment of Learning

RUBRIC: Critical Analysis of Leadership Theory

Click here for the assignment rubric.