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Threshold Concepts and Modalities for Teaching Leadership Practice


Jeffrey Yip


Boston University - School of Management

Joseph A. Raelin


Northeastern University - D’Amore-McKim School of Business

August 10, 2011

Management Learning, Forthcoming
Boston U. School of Management Research Paper No. 2011-17

Abstract:     
Can the teaching of leadership transform practice? What concepts and modalities are best suited to do so? This paper builds on Meyer and Land’s (2003) theory of threshold concepts to examine how students learn and experience leadership as a complex and multi-faceted practice. Threshold concepts are conceptual gateways, opening up new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking about a field. In an ethnographic account using participant observation, analysis of student papers, and in-depth interviews, the authors identified two threshold concepts that had a transformational impact on students: (i) situational leadership and (ii) shared leadership. In addition, they found three modalities that supported the learning of threshold concepts: (i) variation, (ii) enactment, and (iii) reflection. The paper concludes by citing the broader implications for the research and teaching of leadership practice.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 49

Keywords: threshold concepts, threshold modalities, action learning, leadership development, learning, practice

JEL Classification: J24, L00, L20, M00, M10, M12, M14, M53, M54

working papers series


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Date posted: August 11, 2011 ; Last revised: December 5, 2012

Suggested Citation

Yip, Jeffrey and Raelin, Joseph A., Threshold Concepts and Modalities for Teaching Leadership Practice (August 10, 2011). Management Learning, Forthcoming ; Boston U. School of Management Research Paper No. 2011-17. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1907975 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1907975

Contact Information

Jeffrey Yip (Contact Author)
Boston University - School of Management ( email )
595 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
United States
Joseph A. Raelin
Northeastern University - D’Amore-McKim School of Business ( email )
360 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.poe.neu.edu
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