Assessment 1: Reflective Essay (%50)
This individual assignment will give you a chance to reflect upon aspects of 11 leadership. You are expected to be creative in this assignment and generate/collate your own data to reflect upon certain aspects of leadership discussed throughout lectures, seminars and suggested readings. You can draw upon several sources:
1) Generate your own original data. For instance;
a. You can draw upon your own experience of a group work that you involved in previous years. The group work may refer to a collective work that you involved in the higher education settings such as a project work that was undertaken within a module, or a program, you may also refer to a group work that you personally participated out of the University, e.g., a civic project, a business project, family project, charity work, community/religious work, or else.
b. You can have interviews with leaders, transcribe and use these as your data source.
c. You can shadow a leader or leaders and use this ethnographic observations as your data source.
2) Collate secondary data. For instance;
a. You can read a novel or set of books (whatever kinds) on certain leaders and/or certain aspects of leadership.
b. You can watch films or documentaries about certain leaders and/or certain aspects of leadership.
c. You can make a research and collect magazines, news clips or columns about certain leaders and/or certain aspects of leadership.
d. You can also blend those sources listed above by citing your references clearly.
Please find some more guidelines below that may help you with structuring and framing your paper:
Introduction:
• Start with briefly introducing what we will be reading in this essay by addressing questions like:
o What is the purpose of the study? Please clearly state your theoretical motivation in addition to the practical/managerial or personal relevance whenever relevant.
o Why is it important to read/study that? Please clearly state your theoretical motivation in addition to the practical/managerial or personal relevance whenever relevant.
o What theoretical frameworks or tools are used; why are these selected?
o What will be the intended contribution(s)? Please clearly state your theoretical contribution in addition to the practical/managerial or personal relevance whenever relevant.
Context/background:
o Tell your story on leadership practices in the particular data setting you have based your study on. In reading those, the reader needs to be able to visualize what kind of setting or context the story is being told. Here, think and write like a theatre designer who creates the setting for the production, allowing the audience to believe they are in a different place or time!
o As in all story-telling, let us know about the main characters, scene and time(s) of the event and any other specific aspects characterizing this context.
Theoretical Framework and Analysis:
o Describe the major theme or important issue(s) you focused, specifically address how you come to pick that issue.
o Introduce the reader a particular theoretical framework(s) that you will use in inquiring into your research problem. Remain focused is important here. For that, instead of covering many different theoretical frameworks, you can try to pick one or max two theories and work through the concepts within this framework.
o Let us know/justify why you picked up this theoretical framework and how you expect/think this theoretical approach and perspective(s) help(ed) you with addressing specific theoretical questions/issue(s) in your case.
o Make the actual analysis. Examine your focused issue by using selected specific theoretical approach.
Discussions and Conclusions:
• Let us recall the purpose of this essay and what you have found after examining your case(s).
• Provide critical discussions.
o Whether/how your theoretical framework(s) were helpful, please be very specific here how/in what ways this particular theory helped you or failed to help you. For instance, what questions you could ask/get a response or what issues you could or not address by the help of this theory.
o Discuss if/whether this framework is applicable to similar cases, models, contexts or aspects of leadership like yours. Why or why not? Here you can get the help of discussions we held in the classroom or of reading additional articles on the strengths and criticisms towards particular approaches that you adopted.
o Return to the overall theory or perspective and critically reflect upon its explanatory capacity by referring to your particular case and/or context. Make generalization(s) and abstractions here. Try to be bold (but also informed)! What future research can learn from your
