Framing leadership: The social construction of leadership within the academic field of communication studies

Abstract

The study and advancement of leadership instruction is tied to many academic disciplines and is continually evolving. Within Communication Studies, instructional approaches are informed by past voices. Those voices influence an individual’s and discipline’s pedagogical approach for developing leadership curricula. Through examining socially-constructed language of instructors and scholars in the academic field and discipline of Communication Studies, common themes emerged that support the development of a disciplinary frame. This study offers a frame for how educators in the communication field, who teach leadership curricula, approach the instruction of leadership related concepts and how leadership is commonly approached within the discipline. This study reviews related literature, analyzes the language of leadership found in Communication Studies and outlines pedagogical implications to be considered. The results of this study are particularly relevant for those educators and practitioners who are interested in developing leadership curriculum. The results of this study are important in helping us determine legitimacy and effectiveness of the many leadership development approaches advocated today by understanding better common approaches from Communication Studies.

Keywords

• leadership
• social construction
• framing
• communication studies
• pedagogy