Portrayal of dominance in children's myth, story and legend : implications for educational administrators

Abstract

This research views a theory of dominance from the perspective that dominance represents an integration of dialectical support and control dimensions. The design of the inquiry applies an adaptation of Hersey and Blanchard's situational Leadership model, called the Dominance Affect Template, to the main characters in children's myth, story and legend. The research stories include THE UGLY DUCKLING, LITTLE FED RIDING HOOD, CINDERELLA, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, THE RED SHOES and THE WILD SWANS. Analysing the content of children's myth, story and legend effectively creates a new story highlighting characterisations of controlling and supporting role expressions. The resulting effectiveness of such role manifestations upon the situatedness of the main character progressing curvilinearly through Technical, Interdependent, Political, and Rational Dominance quadrants is examined with the application of the Dominance Affect Template. Children's myth, story and legend, when considered relationally by affect, creates an ecology of little narrative through which children may be constructively guided to discover their own talents for interacting with, having an effect upon, and feeling empowered within the world that they inhabit.