| This qualitative study was completed to understand the themes that emerged from scholarly works on the use of humanities in leadership theory and practice between 1960 and 2011. Educational leadership has expanded from using only the methods of the social sciences to using methods from other sources to inform leadership, such as using the humanities to understand leadership principles. The humanities include the study of literature, history, philosophy, modern and classical languages, linguistics, jurisprudence, art history and criticism, ethics, comparative religion, and those disciplines of the social sciences employing historical or philosophical approaches. Scholarship voices suggesting the benefits offered by the humanities began in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This continued on a minority scale in educational research through the 20th century. The problem addressed is that despite calls for the use of writings from the humanities in educational leadership practice, no study had been done that synthesized this approach. To meet this need, a content analysis was conducted to analyze the works of purposefully selected scholars who proposed the incorporation of humanities content into leadership study and practice. These works were coded for the major themes illustrating how the humanities could be used in leadership education. Several major themes were discovered. The themes in the studied content included the humanities bridging gaps with the social sciences, promoting awareness of different leadership styles, understanding the aesthetic function of leadership as art, rationales for employing humanities content, adding to the epistemology of leadership studies, and the importance of an interdisciplinary use of the humanities and social sciences. Many scholars wrote about the problems and limitations of using the humanities in leadership education. Others noted that current leadership theories can be illustrated by humanities examples. Implications are that the humanities hold promise as aids for illustrating leadership concepts, supplementing leadership principles drawn from the social sciences, and assisting leaders in understanding interrelationships among disciplines. Further research conducted about educational leadership programs that employ a humanities component in leadership preparation would be useful in determining if such use has efficacy in the preparation of educational leaders. |
