Fiedlers Contingency TheoryIn this assignment, you will analyze.docx

Fiedler's Contingency Theory
In this assignment, you will analyze Fiedler's Contingency
Theory and learn to identify the most effective leadership style
to use in different situations.
Using the South University Online Library or the Internet,
conduct research to gain a greater understanding of Fiedler's
Contingency Theory.
Read the following scenario and analyze how this situation
should be handled.
Scenario
John, a health management student completing an internship at
Memorial Hospital, has been appointed chair of a
multidisciplinary clinical taskforce by the hospital's CEO. The
taskforce will design a new operational system to reduce the
waiting time of patients entering the hospital's emergency room
(ER). Although John had no clinical experience, he had
successfully completed a course in operations management prior
to beginning his internship and was excited to apply his new
knowledge for solving a "real" problem for the hospital.
The hospital CEO told John that when a patient entered the
hospital's ER, it could take up to eight hours from the time the
patient was initially triaged by a nurse to the time the patient
was either discharged home or admitted as an inpatient by the
physician. The CEO said, "Due to quality of patient care issues,
this timeframe is unacceptable and the taskforce needs to come
up with solutions to this problem. My goal is to reduce the
"turnaround" time for the patient from eight hours to two
hours."
Prior to being assigned as the chair of this taskforce, John had
informally observed the operations of the hospital's ER and
noted that many of the bottlenecks causing patient care delays
were caused by operational issues such as nurses filling out
duplicate forms and a lack of communication between the
hospital departments (for example, radiology) when the ER

physicians ordered tests or were waiting for test results to
confirm their diagnoses. These bottlenecks caused a slow
turnover of the ER's examination rooms and unnecessary
paperwork resulting in the ineffective use of both the
physicians' and nurses' time.
In addition to John, the CEO assigned Dr. Smith, the medical
director of the hospital's ER, and Mary, the ER nurse manager,
to the taskforce. As chair of the taskforce, John scheduled an
initial meeting for 10:00 a.m., the following Monday. John was
surprised that both Dr. Smith and Mary arrived twenty minutes
late to the meeting saying that this was "taking valuable time
away from their normal assignments." John started the meeting
by first introducing himself. Before this meeting, he had no
interactions with Dr. Smith and Mary. He then reviewed the
current statistics of the average wait time for a patient
presenting to the ER and the hospital's CEO desire to reduce
this time. He then opened the meeting for comments and
suggestions.
Dr. Smith spoke first, "In my opinion, the current operational
systems that we have in place are just fine. We just need more
ER physicians and examination rooms so that more patients can
be seen." Dr. Smith told John to recommend that the operational
systems were good enough and that the hospital should build a
new wing for additional ER exam rooms and hire more
physicians.
Interrupting Dr. Smith, John said, "The hospital has a very
limited capital budget and no funds have been allocated for
building more facilities. We need to redesign the operational
system to be more efficient and effective." Dr. Smith gave John
a stern look and reminded him that he, not John, was the
medical director and therefore, knew what is needed and what is
best for the hospital's ER.
Mary was the next to speak. She recommended that more nurses
be hired so patients could be triaged quicker when they first
present themselves in the ER. Dr. Smith disagreed, saying,
"Hiring more nurses is not the solution because even if patients

were triaged quicker, there aren't enough examination rooms to
move the patients to!"
John was just about to remind them of the taskforce's purpose,
when an overhead page indicated that both Dr. Smith and Mary
were needed in the ER immediately. By now, patients were
lined up in the hallways waiting to be seen in the ER. Dr. Smith
told John to make the hiring and building recommendations to
the CEO. The meeting adjourned, with Dr. Smith and Mary
running off to the ER where patients were waiting to be seen.
John sat in the empty meeting room and thought, "The CEO is
not going to be happy with the taskforce's recommendations."
He wondered, "As chair of this taskforce, what could I have
done to produce the desired outcome?" John knew that hiring
more physicians and nurses and building more examination
rooms was not the answer. The answer was better coordination
and integration of the ER's operating systems.
Tasks
Based on your research, understanding of the Fiedler's
Contingency Theory, and the above scenario, create a 4- to 5-
page Microsoft Word document to address the following
questions:
· What is Fiedler's Contingency Theory? How did it develop?
What are its applications? What are its pros and cons?
· Does everyone have just one leadership style or can it vary?
Why? What factors exert pressure to influence a shift in
leadership style? Are the factors exerting pressure to influence a
shift in leadership style appropriate with respect to merit and
measure? Why or why not?
· What factors influence a leader to adopt a specific style
(personal traits, characteristics, environment, and so on)?
· What role do communications, dynamic listening, and conflict
resolution play for a leader?
· Using Fiedler's Contingency Theory, how would you help John
determine what leadership style he should use? Why?
· What is the relevance of ethics in the above scenario?
· Which leadership style do you consider the best? Why?

· What would be the most effective leadership style in the above
case scenario using Fiedler's Contingency Theory? Why?
· Assess your own leadership qualities using what you've
learned. What is your natural leadership style? Are you task-
oriented or relationship-oriented leader?
Support your responses with appropriate research, reasoning,
and examples.
Format your document and cite any sources in accordance to
APA guidelines.
5
Piaget’s Theory
De Lisi
Richard De Lisi is chair of educational psychology in
the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers.
P IAGET’S THEORY IS PROPERLY ASSOCIATED with
educational practices that encourage students’
active participation in the teaching-learning process.
This article describes some of Piaget’s ideas about
peer relationships, which professional educators
may find useful for classroom applications. Any
educational practice, including peer learning, should
be systematically examined and evaluated. This ar-
ticle provides a framework for such an evaluation
using Piaget’s theory as a basis. After describing
two important goals of peer learning, the point is
made that teachers need to be mindful of the socio-
moral context in which peer learning occurs. Teach-
ers also need to consider the impact of peer learning
on students’ thoughts and feelings about school-
work and their classmates. Finally, peer interac-

tions and peer learning using modern technology
are discussed.
Current Educational Practice:
Why Have Peer Learning?
It has become commonplace in many schools
for teachers to require that students work in teams
to complete academic tasks. Such peer work might
take place during class time or as part of a home-
work assignment. When assigned as homework,
peer projects often require the students’ families
to coordinate their schedules so that students can
find a time and a place to do the required work.
These different contexts for peer learning activi-
ties are discussed in the next section of this arti-
cle. Regardless of the setting, or the specific
curriculum area, the underlying idea is that student
achievement will be enhanced when peer activities
are part of the instructional process. The main pur-
pose of using peer learning in schools is to sharpen
academic skills such as listening and communica-
tion, and to enhance subject matter mastery by pro-
moting deeper levels of understanding based on
discussion and a free exchange of ideas.
Peer learning has a second potential educa-
tional benefit for students, namely, learning how
to manage interactions with classmates in order to
have an effective and successful team experience.
For example, students might discover that even
though classmates can have different opinions and
points of view, it is still important to treat each
member of the team with respect in order to main-
tain group functioning. As the United States be-

comes more heterogeneous with respect to cultural,
ethnic, and language backgrounds (Schmitt, 2001),
developing positive attitudes towards, and learn-
ing about, classmates who differ from one’s self
and how to interact with them, will become an
increasingly important part of the school experi-
ence. The necessity for such preparation in the adult
worlds of work and community are another driv-
ing force behind the growing use of peer work in
Richard De Lisi
Implications of Piaget’s Ideas About
Peer Learning
THEORY INTO PRACTICE, Volume 41, Number 1, Winter
2002
Copyright © 2002 College of Education, The Ohio State
University
6
THEORY INTO PRACTICE / Winter 2002
Promoting Thinking Through Peer Learning
modern American schools. As we turn from cur-
rent practice to Piaget’s theory, these two main
objectives of peer learning—sharpening academic
skills and managing interactions with classmates—
will be explicitly addressed.
The Socio-Moral Climate:
Constraint and Cooperation

Piaget (1932) studied children’s relationships
with parents and with peers more than 70 years
ago. He identified enduring forms, patterns, or
structures inherent in social relationships that merit
our attention despite the many changes in children’s
lives that have taken place since then. In relation-
ships that have constraint as their underlying form,
one person has the right to dictate terms to the
other, who is obligated to obey without question.
The two persons in the relationship are not on equal
footing, and the subordinate member is supposed
to have unilateral respect for the authority-figure
member. Many child-adult relationships (e.g, child-
parent or child-teacher) and some child-child rela-
tionships (e.g., child-older child) have constraint
as their underlying basis. In relationships that have
cooperation as their underlying form, neither per-
son has the right to dictate terms to the other, and
neither person is obligated to obey the other. In-
stead, the two persons are on equal footing, and
each is free to agree or disagree with the other.
This type of relationship is based upon and pro-
vokes mutual respect between partners. Many child-
child relationships have cooperation as their
underlying basis, and many child-adult relation-
ships have elements of cooperation.
Children’s ideas about rules (in games such
as marbles and of social conduct such as moral
imperatives) based on cooperative relationships ap-
peared after and were developmentally more ad-
vanced than ideas about rules based on constraint
(Piaget, 1932). Notions of rules based on unilater-
al respect and constraint were found to be imma-
ture and misguided from an adult point of view.

Children move beyond constraint when they re-
invent the rules for themselves by working with
partners for whom they have mutual respect. For
example, a child who is forced to share his toys
with a friend and only does so out of unilateral re-
spect for his mother, is not very likely to continue to
share when the mother is not around to observe
play. On the other hand, a child might re-invent
the idea of sharing on his own. This could be based
on seeing the spontaneous joy of a friend when a
toy is freely offered, and the feeling that occurs
when the act is reciprocated. A child who shares
for this reason is more likely to share at a later
point in time than is a child who is forced to share
by an authority figure. In both cases, the child’s
overt behavior consisted of sharing; but in the first
instance, the underlying basis was not as firmly a
part of the child’s repertoire as was the second
instance.
Cooperation in the classroom
Using Piaget’s theory as a foundation,
DeVries (1997, 2000, 2001) emphasized the need
for teachers to attempt to foster cooperative rela-
tionships with their students. It is unrealistic and
unnecessary to expect classrooms to be similar to
playgrounds in their underlying socio-moral con-
text. However, DeVries maintains that student
learning is optimized when teachers create an at-
mosphere of mutual respect in their classrooms.
Underscoring DeVries’s point, it is important to
consider the larger socio-moral context in which
peer learning occurs. A classroom that is largely
teacher-directed and based on obedience and con-

straint is unlikely to reap the intended benefits from
peer learning activities. In such a context, the team
is likely to focus on trying to please the teacher
and will be less willing to share ideas in an open-
ended fashion. Neither the academic nor the social
benefits of peer experiences are likely to be real-
ized if the larger context in which learning occurs
is constraint and unilateral respect.
Conversely, if the general classroom context
is one in which the teacher and student have mutu-
al respect for each other, than it is more likely that
peer team members will also have mutual respect
for each other. In this context, peer team members
are more likely to feel comfortable with a free ex-
change of ideas that can lead to both deeper levels
of understanding and an appreciation of another
person’s individuality.
Cooperation outside the classroom
When teachers require that peer learning activ-
ities occur outside the classroom, the nature of the
larger socio-moral context might differ from the one
7
Piaget’s Theory
De Lisi
that the teacher has designed in the classroom. The
context might shift from one based largely on mu-
tual respect and cooperation to one based largely
on unilateral respect and constraint. For example,

if parents must be involved in order to see that the
team members have a time and a place to work
together, then the underlying form of the child-
parent relationship can come into play. Some par-
ents might be annoyed and resentful of having to
coordinate peer assignments and communicate these
feelings to their child. In this case, students might
feel pressured to complete the assignment as quick-
ly as possible to avoid making further demands of
an irritated parent. This introduces an element of
unfairness in terms of evaluating learning outcomes.
For these reasons it is better to have peer learning
occur in the classroom rather than require that stu-
dents meet for extended periods of time outside of
the classroom. Teachers can monitor and support
peer learning activities when they occur in school.
Students can be required to do the individual parts
of peer projects as homework and to bring the fruits
of those efforts to the classroom for peer reaction.
Students can be asked to read and evaluate another
student’s work at home, but face-to-face discus-
sion of reactions should occur in school so that the
socio-moral context is consistent with the teach-
er’s expectations.
Possible Learning Outcomes
From Peer Experiences
Piaget (1985) described developing knowl-
edge as a relationship between the child’s current
cognitive system and the particular object, task, or
problem at hand. Let us first consider this know-
ing relationship for situations in which a child
works alone on a problem, and then consider the
complexities introduced by two or more students
working together to solve the same problem.

Students working alone
The components of the knowing relationship,
the child’s cognitive system and the problem at
hand, can be thought of as similar to a balance
beam, with three general possibilities as depicted
in Figure 1. When the child’s cognitive system and
problem elements are in balance as depicted in Fig-
ure 1(a), concept differentiation and deeper levels
of understanding may emerge from the problem-
solving experience. This is the type of relationship
that teachers hope to foster for their students in
school settings. A balanced relationship implies that
the child’s cognitive system is fully engaged and
takes account of important components of the prob-
lem. Note that the degree of balance is always rela-
tive to the individual student and the type of task at
hand. A student’s cognitive system is more likely to
be fully engaged when: (a) she feels that her learning
efforts are respected and valued by teachers and by
classmates, (b) she has positive feelings about the
learning situation, and (c) the curriculum tasks and
problems are developmentally appropriate. If even
one of these three elements is missing, imbalances
in knowing relationships can occur.
When the knowing relationship is overweight-
ed in favor of the child’s cognitive system, as
shown in Figure 1(b), concept development and
attainment of deeper levels of understanding are
not as likely to occur. Instead, the child tends to
have overly personal and individualistic interpre-
tations but may be unaware of this imbalance. Im-
portant problem elements are either ignored or

misinterpreted in favor of the child’s current level
of understanding. As a result, change in under-
standing is not likely to occur.
When the knowing relationship is overweight-
ed in favor of problem elements, as illustrated in
Figure 1(c), concept development and attainment
of deeper levels of understanding are not likely to
occur. When problem elements dominate a know-
ing relationship, the child’s cognitive system is only
minimally or superficially engaged. This occurs
whenever a student memorizes material that is not
well understood. Although problem elements must
be attended to in order for memorization to occur,
the student is not thinking deeply about the mate-
rial. Much of school learning requires that prob-
lem elements be beyond the current cognitive
capacity of students. It is precisely in these cir-
cumstances that students need to engage their cog-
nitive systems to the maximum. Students will not
take the time and effort to think deeply about a
task when they feel disrespected by a teacher or
classmates and when genuine efforts at learning
are not rewarded.
Before describing what can occur in peer
learning situations, let us consider an example that
encompasses each of the three possible knowing
8

Figure 1. Three possible relationships between a child’s
cognitive system and the elements of problem situation.
Knowing RelationshipChild's Cognitive System(a) A Cognitive
System and Problem Elements in BalanceParticular Problem or
Task(b) Imbalance Favoring Cognitive System over Problem
Elements(c) Imbalance Favoring Problem Elements over
Cognitive SystemKnowing RelationshipChild's Cognitive
SystemParticular Problem or TaskKnowing RelationshipChild's
Cognitive SystemParticular Problem or Task
Child’s Cognitive
System
Child’s Cognitive
System
Child’s Cognitive
System
Knowing
Relationship
Knowing
Relationship
Knowing
Relationship
Particular
Problem or
Task
Particular
Problem or

Task
(a) A Cognitive System and Problem Elements in Balance
(b) Imbalance Favoring Cognitive System over Problem
Elements
(c) Imbalance Favoring Problem Elements over Cognitive
System
Particular
Problem or
Task
9
Piaget’s Theory
De Lisi
relationships. Suppose students are required to lo-
cate and read sources for a research report. Many
students will read material that is at or slightly
above their (individual) grade level. These students
are likely to comprehend the text they selected.
Having read for comprehension, these students are
in a good position to create a written report that
reflects both their personal understanding and the
author’s intention. This would be an example of a
balanced relationship as depicted in Figure 1(a).
Unfortunately, some students will select material
that far exceeds their reading ability. In this situa-
tion, some may use general knowledge informa-

tion or attempt to fabricate ideas in a report in
such a way that the author’s intention is not repre-
sented at all. Here there is an imbalance in favor
of the child’s cognitive system that does not do
justice to the text [Figure 1(b)]. If the textual ma-
terial is too difficult, some other students may feel
a need to copy the text word for word without
really comprehending the author’s intention. Now
we have the other kind of imbalance: the problem
elements outweigh the child’s understanding, as
shown in Figure 1(c). In each of these situations,
students have prepared a report with some level of
understanding. Only in the first situation, howev-
er, is there a healthy balance between the student’s
ideas, the author’s textual content, and the teach-
er’s learning objectives for the report.
Students working together
One of Piaget’s enduring themes concerning
the importance of peer relationships in a child’s de-
velopment was the potential for peer experiences to
help a child realize that his understanding was overly
personal and individualistic (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958,
Chapter 18; Piaget, 1932). By having peers respect-
fully contradict a child’s interpretation, a shift to-
ward a more balanced knowing relationship can
occur, [i.e., movement from Figure 1(b) to 1(a)].
Similarly, by having peers respectfully ask that an
unclear statement be explained “in your own
words,” a shift from a Figure 1(c) to a Figure 1(a)
relationship can occur. The act of explaining to a
peer often highlights gaps in understanding that
can then be clarified.
In a peer learning activity, different mem-

bers of the peer team can be in different cognitive
balances as illustrated in Figure 1. For example, in
a two-person team, one member might be engaged
in the optimal, balanced relationship depicted in
Figure 1(a), while the other member of the team
might be following along and merely copying or
imitating the first person’s work. This second mem-
ber would be in the type of relationship shown in
Figure 1(c)—problem elements dominate the stu-
dent’s cognitive system. In such a situation, the
first student would be more likely than the second
student to have a positive learning outcome from
the peer activities. Obviously, if this type of ar-
rangement were repeated over time, the second stu-
dent might be better off working alone, or working
with a different partner. Peer learning activities do
not guarantee Figure 1(a)-type knowledge relation-
ships. Students can still act individualistically and
not really communicate with each other [Figure
1(b)], or some can take the lead while others merely
imitate and follow along without really understand-
ing [Figure 1(c)]. Alternatively, when properly de-
signed, peer learning activities can help each
member of the team to be fully engaged with the
task at hand. Again, the larger classroom socio-
moral context will play a part in determining how
the peer team reacts to a given assignment.
De Lisi and Golbeck (1999) provide a sum-
mary of laboratory studies of peer learning con-
ducted from a Piagetian perspective. Schwarz,
Neuman, and Biezuner (2000) present a recent
classroom study showing that two students work-
ing together can make learning gains even though
both students entered the peer learning situation

with low levels of competence. The thrust of the
research on peer learning shows that when peers
engage in dialogues and discussions (even argu-
ments) that are relevant to both the task at hand
and to initial misconceptions, cognitive gains can
result from the peer interactions.
Thoughts and Feelings About
Peer Learning
In any given situation, students will have both
thoughts and feelings about their experiences (Piaget,
1981). Thoughts are important because they delimit
the child’s capability in a given situation. Feelings
are important because they provide the motive force
for thinking and acting. Peer learning activities give
rise to the general thoughts (cognition) and feel-
ings (affect) depicted in Figure 2.
10
If the major goal of peer learning is to en-
hance mastery of academic content and skills, then
there is a clear lesson to be drawn from Figure 2.
Teachers must ensure that the social-interactive
aspects of peer learning are well designed so they
can be smoothly executed by the participants. If
the peer interactions are dysfunctional, then at least
some of the participants will be unhappy; these
feelings can interfere with success and with under-
standing. Dysfunctional interactions might also in-

terfere with success and understanding because
such interactions would require participants to di-
rect their cognitive efforts to an analysis of the
interactions rather than the academic content and
skills in question. Obviously, interactions that are
largely dysfunctional and cannot be repaired work
against the goal of teaching children to respect each
other and to accomplish tasks in teams. Note that
disagreements and conflicts are an inevitable part
of the peer learning experience. Such disagreements
and conflicts are more likely to be intellectually
and emotionally healthy when negotiation strate-
gies and conflict resolution are explicitly taught
(DeVries, 1997, 2001). Designing effective peer
learning activities is a complex task for even the
most experienced of teachers.
Another general principle from Piaget’s the-
ory that is relevant to the discussion of cognition
and affect in peer learning is the notion that chil-
dren reconstruct in thought what they have previ-
ously experienced in direct action (Piaget, 1976,
1978). Students will form ideas or concepts about
peer learning based on their previous peer learning
experiences. These ideas will have both a cogni-
tive and an affective component, and, as such, will
influence students’ behavior in subsequent peer
learning activities. Teachers who respect their stu-
dents will take the time to learn about their stu-
dents’ ideas about peer learning activities and
attempt to address general concerns. This feedback
may be based on experiences from previous years,
from other classes in the current year, or from the
present class. Teachers can expect to have middle-
and high-school students raise concerns about the

relationships among the assignment instructions,
individual and group effort, and final project grades
(both group and individual). Dealing with these
concerns directly communicates that the students’
Peer Learning Experience:Process and
ProductCognitionAffectReflections on the Nature of the Social
InteractionsFeelings about the the Social InteractionsLevel of
Success and Understanding of the Academic ContentLevel of
Success and Understanding of the Academic Content
Peer Learning Experience:
Process & Product
Cognition Affect
Feelings about the
social interactions
Reflections on the
nature of the social
interactions
Level of success and
understanding of the
academic content
Feelings about the level of
success and understanding of
the academic content
Figure 2. Cognitive and affective aspects of peer learning
experiences.

11
Piaget’s Theory
De Lisi
ideas are important to the teacher. If modifications
are made in the design of peer activities, then the
students’ experiences in peer teams and their sub-
sequent beliefs and feelings might be enhanced.
This point underscores the importance of the larger
socio-moral classroom context for successful peer
learning.
Technology and Peer Learning
Throughout the United States, educational
systems have been infusing computer technology
into classrooms, libraries, and laboratories during
the past 10 years. For example, the State of New
Jersey recently reported that in 1997-1998 only 36.5
percent of all secondary public school locations
had access to the Internet, but in 1999-2000 that
figure had increased to 74.1 percent (State of New
Jersey, 2001). This infusion of technology into
schools has been paralleled by computer purchases
in homes. In a country as wealthy as the United
States, it appears that virtually every school-aged
child will soon have access to the Internet for at
least part of the school day, and perhaps outside of
school as well.
Although the Internet can be used to make
learning a solitary endeavor or one in which face-

to-face contact with teachers and peers is reduced
(Guernsey, 2001), it is also possible for students
to have additional opportunities to interact with
peers over the Internet. A ubiquitous example of a
new form of communication and peer interaction
using the Internet is chatting via programs such as
-
senger, a pop-up dialog box appears that allows
the user to type messages to others who are con-
nected at the same time. The last set of postings
and replies is visible to the user’s screen. Because it
is possible to run one computer application and be
connected simultaneously with one or more others
via an instant message program, students can do their
homework while on-line (i.e., while composing a
paper using a word processing program) and si-
multaneously chat with a friend or classmate (i.e.,
about homework or a non-school topic). Instant
message communications are usually not conducted
with standard English spelling and grammatical
conventions. As such, they are an example of Fig-
ure 1(b) in which the participants’ style of com-
munication pays little heed to the elements of
standard grammar. This does not mean, however,
that the form of communication is without educa-
tional value. When left to their own devices, stu-
dents will invent forms of communication that
would not be accepted in most classrooms. Instant
messaging communications are an example of peer
exchanges when the element of adult constraint is
removed or minimized.
Although technological advances, such as vir-
tual communication on the Internet, seem to intro-
duce a new form of communication and interaction,

much of the analysis discussed in this article holds.
Communications occur in the contexts of relation-
ships that have elements of constraint as well as
cooperation. It is important that students learn to
treat others with respect, whether they communi-
cate face-to-face or “virtually.” Given recent prob-
lems of serious threats being transmitted over the
Internet, parents and teachers may have to exercise
greater control over students’ use of the Internet in
order to protect them. If teachers want to require that
students use the Internet to communicate and work
together, they would do well to monitor the post-
ings as carefully as they would monitor face-to-
face interactions. As was mentioned earlier in this
article, the nature of the socio-moral context in
which schoolwork is completed can change dra-
matically when work is done at home. Teachers
need to ensure that the climate they have created
in their classrooms is maintained when work is
done over the Internet.
Conclusions
Piaget’s developmental theory has long signaled
the need for educational objectives to be focused on
developing creative, independent thinkers (Kohlberg
& Mayer, 1972). An important way to work toward
this objective requires that teachers be mentors to
students, posing problems that are at appropriate lev-
els of difficulty for each individual student (Piaget,
1973). Introducing deliberate peer learning activi-
ties into the instructional design process has great
potential benefit but complicates matters consider-
ably. Having students work together is surely not
a “magic bullet.” Opportunities for students to fail
to have meaningful learning experiences and/or

experiences that are affectively painful are present
regardless of whether peer learning is used. Class-
rooms in which teachers and students develop a
12
feeling of mutual trust and respect have the best
chance for peer learning experiences to be suc-
cessful (DeVries, 1997, 2000, 2001). In such class-
rooms, teachers take the time to assess students’
thoughts and feelings about the peer learning ex-
perience and make modifications where possible.
This experimental-evaluative approach to teaching
and learning not only communicates respect for
learners, but also provides a model of critical in-
quiry that students can emulate. This type of re-
flective practice is at the heart of a Piagetian
approach to education.
References
De Lisi, R., & Golbeck, S.L. (1999). The implications
o f P i a g e t ’ s t h e o r y f o r p e e r l e a r n i n g . I n A
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O’Donnell & A. King (Eds.), Cognitive perspec-
tives on peer learning (pp. 3-37). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
DeVries, R. (1997). Piaget’s social theory. Education-
al Researcher, 26, 4-17.

DeVries, R. (2000). Vygotsky, Piaget, and education:
A reciprocal assimilation of theories and educa-
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The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing
relevant topics for this week based on the course competencies
covered.
To support your work, use your course and text readings and
also use outside sources. As in all assignments, cite your
sources in your work and provide references for the citations in
APA format.
Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your
classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least
two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by asking a
question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a
point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the
discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more
lines of reasoning in the discussion. Complete your

participation for this assignment by Sunday, January 22, 2017.
Leadership Styles
In this assignment, you will study the characteristics of leaders
that define their leadership style.
Using the South University Online Library or the Internet,
research about the following:
· Different leaders who you consider effective
· Effective leaders in the health industry
· Leadership challenges in the health industry
· Leadership styles
Based on your research and understanding, complete the
following tasks:
· Identify five leaders of today, one of each of the following
styles:
· Charismatic
· Transformational
· Visionary
· Transactional
· Servant
· For each chosen leader:
· List and describe the characteristics that made you select
them.
· Identify and define the contemporary leadership style they
employ.
· List and explain the major characteristics of the contemporary
leadership style. Explain with examples.
· Explain if this style is effective or ineffective for the leaders
you've chosen.
· Define emotional intelligence including the five components
of emotional intelligence, its relationship to successful
leadership, and whether your selected leaders have it or lack it.
· Explain each leader's situational leadership capabilities. Give
an example where they demonstrated their situational leadership
capabilities.
· Select one of your chosen leaders to be your manager, and
explain why you chose that leader.

Suppose you are a leader in a healthcare industry, which is
facing fast and immediate change. Which of the contemporary
leadership styles do you believe are best suited to healthcare
leaders to manage that change? Why? Explain using concepts
and theories learned in the week.

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