Preferred Leadership Style Of Agricultural Education Teachers And The Connection To Personal Characteristics

Abstract

Supported by Bandura's social cognitive theory, this study examined the preferred leadership style of agricultural education teachers, and determined if preferred leadership style and leadership factors differed on selected personal characteristics. The accessible sample consisted of agricultural education teachers (N = 234) who taught in Minnesota during the 2005-2006 school year, and a 75.2% response rate was achieved. Data were collected using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and this study concluded that agricultural education teachers are more transformational in their preferred leadership style in contrast to transactional and laissez-faire styles. Teachers exhibited individualized consideration the most often as a transformational leadership factor, and used contingent reward the most often as a transactional leadership factor. A statistically significant difference was not found in preferred leadership style on gender, years of teaching experience, and highest academic degree earned. However, two statistically significant differences were found pertaining to the factors comprising transformational leadership: male and female teachers differed on individualized consideration, and teachers with bachelor's degrees and those with master's degrees differed on intellectual stimulation.