Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1986

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Physical Education

First Advisor

James E. Lidstone

Abstract

The study of leadership in physical education and athletics is a relatively new area but some groundwork has already been laid. Knickerbocker considered the primary function of a leader to be organizing the activities of individuals toward the accomplishment of some end through controlling the means for the satisfaction of relevant needs of members of that group. Leadership is personality in action under group conditions. It includes dominant personality traits of an individual and receptive personality qualities of many persons. Many terms and classifications have been used to describe leaders. Bogardus for example described leadership in relation to other people and things. Direct leaders deal with people whereas indirect leaders set forces in motion that eventually change the currents of human activity. An example of a direct leader would be a minister or teacher. Classifying leaders according to leadership style is another way of describing leaders. As a result of these studies the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) was developed. It not only attempted to describe leader behavior but also to "assess the effectiveness of leadership acts". Another way to classify leadership is to identify the important and distinctive qualities of leaders. Certain qualities within a leader can be used to determine a leadership style. Gouldner refers to these individual qualities as traits. Leadership could therefore be described in terms of "traits" possessed by the leader. Other terms commonly associated with leadership are democratic and authoritarian. Authoritarianism centers around decision making involving one person or small numbers of people. Democratic leaders usually reach decisions through group discussion and bargaining. The concept of situational leadership has recently emerged as a dominant theory in leadership study. In this theory the specific surroundings or situation will dictate how a leader should behave. The situation includes everything in that environment; interpersonal relations with people, things and nature. Leadership in the areas of business and industry has been studied extensively. This research project proposes to identify and compare. the leadership styles of college physical education instructors and college football coaches. The essence of the project can be communicated in the following framing questions: 1. Do leadership styles vary among individuals? 2. Does the nature of one's work determine an leadership style or do certain types of leaders prefer certain occupations? 3. Do college football coaches and college physical education instructors have different leadership styles?

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Physical education teachers
Leadership
Football coaches

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

84

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

No Copyright - United State
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

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