Transformational leadership of the physical education teacher in Early Childhood Education: A didactic proposal

Una propuesta didáctica (A didactic proposal)

Abstract

The study of leadership has evolved from models based on the leaders’ personality characteristics and behavior, to models focused on aspects related to the transformation of people and organizations. One of these latter models is transformational leadership, which has shown to be capable of achieving high levels of involvement and performance in followers. Within the field of education, it has been shown that this leadership model is one of the most beneficial ones that can contribute to the development and growth of students. This didactic proposal aims to achieve three objectives: 1) promoting transformational leadership in the Physical Education (PE) teacher in Early Childhood Education; 2) encouraging the active participation of students in PE in Early Childhood Education through the teacher’s transformational leadership; and 3) achieving high levels of enjoyment in students when they are in PE. It is proposed a lesson plan of eight 45-minute sessions for five years old students in Early Childhood Education. Didactic aims, developed basic competencies, and teaching strategies implemented are shown to promote the four dimensions of transformational leadership: individualized consideration, inspiring motivation, individualized influence, and intellectual stimulation. A mixed research methodology is raised with the Transformational Teaching Questionnaire as a teacher self-assessment, interviews with the students and the smileyometer to evaluate the enjoyment of the students during the practice in the lesson plan. This didactic proposal is a useful educational tool for teachers who pretend to implement transformational leadership to enhance the development of motor skills and thereby promote a comprehensive development of Early Childhood Education students.