Imagery of Regent people and campus

Dissertation Abstract

Functional Learner Autonomy and Christ���s Leadership Development of His Followers

Dale R. Hutchcraft
December 2008

Vaill (1996) argued, The learning challenges of effective leadership have not been sufficiently studied. We have not incorporated ideas about learning as a way of being into our thinking about how leading is learning. Behind those notions is a more basic one . . . leadership itself is primarily learning. (p. 148) To better understand how learning is a part of leadership and what that means to leadership development would contribute to better preparation and effectiveness of future leaders. The initial question of this study was how do leadership studies meet the challenge of effectively addressing leadership development issues? The purpose behind the question was to explore and understand what is involved in leaderly learning (Vaill, 1996). The exploration in this study to further understand the interaction of learning and leadership in the context of the leadership model of Jesus Christ in community with His disciples took place by examining the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John.