An Understanding of the Leadership Characteristics of Malian Teacher-politicians 1992-2007 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Amadou Beidy Sow June 2009 © 2009 Amadou Beidy Sow. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled An Understanding of the Leadership Characteristics of Malian Teacher-politicians 1992-2007 by AMADOU BEIDY SOW has been approved for the Department of Educational Studies and the College of Education by Jaylynne N. Hutchinson Associate Professor of Educational Studies Renée A. Middleton Dean, College of Education 3 ABSTRACT SOW, AMADOU BEIDY, Ph.D., June 2009, Curriculum and Instruction, Cultural Studies An Understanding of the Leadership Characteristics of Malian Teacher-politicians 1992- 2007 (237 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Yegan Pillay This qualitative research is a case study of leadership characteristics of Malian teachers who became politicians from 1992 to 2007. Fifteen teacher-politicians who had political seats participated in this investigation. The duration of the interview with each respondent spanned from one to one and a half hours. Teacher-politicians were interviewed in order to understand the type of leadership they display on the political scene. It also enabled the researcher to develop a theory grounded in teacher-politicians’ information. The data proposed that teacher-politicians involved in this study displayed both transformational and transactional leadership characteristics on the political sphere. Different major themes emerged from the data collected from the respondents that explained the different types of leadership teacher-politicians tried to display on the political scene. There were eight different themes that emerged from the data, among which were motive, objective, choice, behavior, character, competence, opinion, and value. It was clear that teacher-politicians tried to bring leadership to the political scene as they talked about their political involvement by which the eight different aspects were incorporated into an available outline of reference. This study provided a discussion and analysis of all data collected. A clear description of the grounded theory used is 4 presented. Implications, limitations, expectations, and suggestion for future research are included. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Yegan Pillay Assistant Professor in Counseling and Higher Education 5 DEDICATION I can explain why it took me so long to finish this work. I realized today that this work was made for my wonderful son Gaoussou Django Beidy; I dedicate this work to him as a gift. I remember holding him on my lap staring at the computer as I continued making changes. This was a special moment that gave me more energy to finish this work for my son. I want my son to know how happy and proud I am to have him in my life. 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very pleased to have a wonderful mother Kadidia Koita, who showed me that education was the only way out to achieve individual freedom. I would not have reached this level without her support, encouragement, and the value she attached to education. I am profoundly grateful to other people who have also intervened in my life throughout my process of attaining a doctoral degree. This work would not have been possible without the unconditional help, support, and love from my American parents’ Virginia and Robert Barber, to whom I am greatly indebted. The third woman whose has been so vital is my wonderful wife Kayla Marie Sow. These three women have each marked my life in different ways making me whom I am. I attribute my success to these three women who are all dear to my heart. I would first like to thank my parents, Gaoussou Sow and Aicha Gackou, for their support. I would also like to thank Kenny Eye, as he has always been there for me; I owe him a lot for the better change of the course of my life. I would also like to thank my brothers, Bakary, Ibrahim Django, Samba, Chaka, Modibo, Ismaila, Makan and Madou Sow and my sisters Nene, Fanta, Oumou, Assa, Djeneba Ami Sow and sisters-in-law Safiatou Sidibe, Fanta Dembele. Additionally, I would like to thank my dear friends Fanta Diamanka, Ousmane Sene, Gerard Akindes, Deniago and Denise Tafen, Joseph Mugenga, Patrice Bayo, Mamadou Sidibe, Sory Koita, Djeneba Doumbia, Idrissa Fane, Bounass Maiga, and the Koita family. I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr Jaylynne Hutchinson and to my director of dissertation Dr Yegan Pillay for supporting me and making this 7 educational journey enjoyable. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr, Najee Muhammad, Dr, Yegan Pillay, and Dr, Ronald Hunt who have been like brothers to me. I thank them for putting their trust in me and pushing me along this process. I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends for their support. I would like to thank the Warren and the Bolen Family for their support throughout this work. They continually gave me their encouragement, and I would not be able to make it without their support. I am especially talking about Judith, Tim, TL, and Charles Warren; Ruth and Lowell Bolen for their daily support. In addition, I would like to extend my thanks to Dr, Cornelia Patterson and Talatou Maiga for their support and help. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 3 DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 6 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 15 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 17 Background of Study .................................................................................................... 17 History of Mali .............................................................................................................. 18 Malian Culture .............................................................................................................. 18 Religion ......................................................................................................................... 21 Educators and Politics ................................................................................................... 22 Transformational Leadership ........................................................................................ 24 Transactional Leadership .............................................................................................. 25 Malian Economic Situation .......................................................................................... 26 Teachers During the Colonial Occupation .................................................................... 28 Malian Educational System .......................................................................................... 30 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 31 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 32 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 32 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................... 33 Delimitation of the Study .............................................................................................. 34 9 Limitation ...................................................................................................................... 34 Definitions of Terms ..................................................................................................... 35 Value ......................................................................................................................... 35 Behavior .................................................................................................................... 35 Character ................................................................................................................... 35 Competence ............................................................................................................... 35 Motivation ................................................................................................................. 36 Colonial Leadership .................................................................................................. 36 Colonial Education .................................................................................................... 36 Politics in Malian Context ........................................................................................ 36 Education in Malian Context .................................................................................... 37 Griots ......................................................................................................................... 37 Nobody .....................................................................................................................