Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

5-2012

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Jasmine R. Renner

Committee Members

Phyllis Thompson, Virginia P. Foley, Catherine H. Glascock

Abstract

The author of this study explored the works of C.S. Lewis as well as memoirs and scholarship concerning his work to illustrate his transformational leadership. Works reviewed included Lewis's fiction, such as his science fiction trilogy and his children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as his works of nonfiction, such as essays that addressed social issues. The secondary aim for the author of this study was to determine whether the transformational qualities Lewis exhibited also existed in his characters.

Transformational leadership served as the conceptual framework for the descriptive explanatory qualitative design. Essentially the study analyzed the primary works of Lewis and subsequent scholarship through the lens of transformational leadership. Data collected included document review, interviews with Lewis scholars, and observations. Synthesis of the data revealed that Lewis possessed the 4 qualities of transformational leadership established by Bass (1985).

Derived from a blended evaluation of scholarship, observational data, and interview responses, findings indicated that Lewis exhibited the 4 qualities of transformational leadership: Idealized influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individual Consideration. In addition, Lewis created a transformational leader in Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia and depicted pseudotransformational leadership in both his science fiction trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia. The author of this study explored a contextual and historical view of Lewis as a veteran of World War I and a voice of hope during World War II. During the period pseudotransformational leadership existed in the reality of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime and echoed in the literature of Lewis in the N.I.C.E. organization from the science fiction trilogy and Shift from The Chronicles of Narnia. Recommendations for further study encourage future scholars to expand the roster of transformational leaders to include artists and thinkers and to examine various aspects of Lewis yet needing research.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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