Education Commons^™

Highlighting Teacher Voices: Discussions On Race And Racism In The Elementary Classroom, Carrie Lynn Buckner

Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout my career in education, I have observed that teachers are challenged by engaging in discussions involving race and racism. This study seeks to understand teachers’ feelings further when discussing race and racism in the elementary classroom by answering the research question: How do elementary teachers experience race and racism in their schools and classrooms?

This qualitative, critical narrative inquiry dissertation focused on three participant interviews with public-school elementary teachers in Tennessee. The data generated from these interviews informed narratives and were then analyzed through the lens of Critical Race Theory. This was followed by In Vivo and structural coding …

"I Can't Say That I Hate It": Reading And Ela Teachers' Experiences With A Scripted Curriculum, Amanda Rigell

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers implemented, modified, or resisted the implementation of a scripted English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. This critical case study used qualitative interviews to investigate reading and ELA teachers’ experiences with implementing a scripted ELA curriculum in a single school district. Findings include teachers’ observations about the role of the curriculum in their teaching, the role of their self-efficacy as teachers, the role of reciprocal trust between administrators and teachers, and the role of power in the adoption and implementation of the curriculum. These findings may be of interest to school and …

Understanding Cultural Competence Among In-Service Teachers: A Review Of The Literature, Amanda R. Kuipers

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Reflections Of Parents And Teachers On The Process Of Daily Transitions Into Infant-Toddler Child Care, Linda Carol Traum

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study considered seven parents’ and three teachers’ values, beliefs, perspectives and meanings of within the context of daily home-to-child care transitions in one infant-toddler center in a Southeastern land-grant university early childhood laboratory school. Sociocultural and attachment theories anchored the study and the developmental niche conceptual framework informed the methodology. Primary methodologies included naturalistic observations, video tapes of transitions and parent and teacher interviews using the video stimulated recall interview (VSRI) method. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method, creating vignettes, and ensuring trustworthiness through the creation of thick descriptions, triangulation of data, and reflective journaling. Findings …

Understanding Contradictions In Teacher-Learner Identity, Digital Video, And Goal-Directed Activity In A Blended Graduate Reading Education Course, Jennifer K. Lubke

Doctoral Dissertations

More teachers are experiencing professional development within blended/virtual learning communities, which I consider a fruitful avenue for expansion of new literacies in K-12 classrooms. However, new literacies challenge traditional structures in education even as new rules of corporate-sponsored reform and high-stakes accountability serve to reinforce these structures. Within this context of contradictions, a cohort of teachers from a rural, remote county in the southeast United States participated in a blended learning environment in their final semester of graduate-level coursework in Reading Education. Some of the teacher-learners, whose own attitudes and motivations toward technology were as diverse as the tools themselves, …

Tennessee Public High School Principals’ Leadership Behaviors And Teachers’ Job Satisfaction, Amie Broughton Rumph

Doctoral Dissertations

The attrition rate of teachers is alarming (Darling-Hammond, 2002; Keigher, 2010; Marvel, Lyter, Peltola, Strizek, & Morton, 2006). Factor of the attrition include teachers leaving the profession due to lack of job satisfaction or lack of administrative support (Angelle, 2002; Littrell, 1994; Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2005). Frameworked by Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959), this web-based, quantitative, descriptive study explored the connections between job satisfaction and perceived leadership behaviors. Participants included 302 teachers from public secondary schools in Central and East Tennessee. Instruments used were the Job Satisfaction Survey ([JSS], Spector, 1994), the Study of School Leadership …

After The Final Bell: The Self-Directed Learning Practices Of Elementary Teachers, Susan Renee Wagner

Doctoral Dissertations

Are elementary teachers self-directed learners? If so, do their learning activities outside their classrooms translate into their classrooms? The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship, if any, between elementary teachers’ self-directed learning and activities in their classrooms. A two phase, mixed methods design first utilized a quantitative study from which the results were used to denote the type of data collected in the second, qualitative phase. The quantitative Phase I of this study involved using a survey instrument in order to identify self-directed learners and identify categories of teacher learners. These quantitative data were gathered through the …

The Personality Profiles Of Pre-Service Teachers: An Examination Of Discipline Differences And Predictive Validity On Future Job Satisfaction, Amy S. Beavers

Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher job satisfaction has been shown to impact teacher retention, attrition and absenteeism (Perrachione, Rosser, & Peterson, 2008). Given the significant investment of resources required to train effective classroom teachers, retention of those teachers is important. Research strongly supports the connection between personality traits and occupational related outcomes such as work performance, career success, and job satisfaction across occupational groups. Developing an understanding of the personality profile of satisfied teachers as a whole, as well as by teaching area, could serve to better equip teachers for the reality of teaching, potentially having the ability to increase job satisfaction. The purposes …