Education Commons^™

Comparing Higher Order Value Differences By Religious And Spiritual Association And Implications For Counseling: An Exploratory Study, Gregory C. Lemich

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The spiritual but not religious (SBNR) population in the U.S. has grown into a significant minority demographic (27%; Lipka & Gecewicz, 2017). Despite this emergence, scant literature has addressed this population and how it differs in values from others, specifically, how SBNR groups differ from those who identify as spiritual and religious (SAR), religious but not spiritual (RBNS), and not spiritual or religious (NSOR). To help this deficiency, this dissertation study explored the intersection of spirituality, religiosity, spiritual and religious categories (SRC; i.e. SAR, SBNR, RBNS, NSOR), and the theory of basic human values (Schwartz, 1992, 1994; Schwartz et al., …

An Exploration Of Practicum Students' Experiences Of Meaning-Making Through Altruism, Debra Paige Lewis

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Finding meaning in one’s work as a counselor has been demonstrated as an important step in the development of altruism, an essential component of counselor effectiveness. Previous studies in counselor education-related research involving program outcomes focus on the core skills of counseling such as knowledge, skill building, self-appraisal and self-efficacy. Yet little investigation has concentrated on the internal rewards of the clinical experience, such as the meaning found in or the altruism development derived specifically from the practicum or internship. This dissertation research took a phenomenological approach to explore the meaning-making and altruism development of counselor education practicum students providing …

Searching For The Divine: An Autoethnographic Account Of Religious/Spiritual And Academic Influences On The Journey To Professor, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

This autoethnographic account chronicles my academic and religious/spiritual path to becoming a professor of Communication. Spiritual influences and significant life events related to prayer, education, teaching, and research serve as sign posts marking the way. The journey begins with a child scientist experimenting with life—and an adolescent discovering the joy of reading through an illness. The journey continues with a crisis in undergraduate years followed by indoctrination stories of graduate school. Securing and retaining an academic position in Communication reveals the complexities of negotiating research and teaching in higher education. After tenure and promotion, a concurrent spiritual awakening begins a …

Listening To The Divine Song Within The Greater Song Of Life, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

[First section]

Why I Teach Listening to the Divine Song

This autoethnography narrates how I came to teach listening to the divine song as part of an undergraduate listening course called Listening to the SONG of Life.¹ Before I describe two personal stories that explain why I teach listening to the divine, a brief introduction to my interpretation of the autoethnographic method is in order.

Autoethnography, as used in this story, is grounded in the assumptions that language is a primary medium by which we are conscious, understand the world, and communicate our learnings to others in stories,^{2 …}

Comparison Of Quality Of Life Perceptions Of Caregivers Of Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities In The United States And The Czech Republic, Sharon A. Raver, Anne M. Michalek, Jan Michalik, Milan Valenta

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Caregivers of individuals with disabilities in the United States have been reported to experience additional hardships than families with typical children as they attempt to balance family and work (Parish, Rose, Grinstein-Weiss, Richman, & Andrews, 2008). In this study, 31 caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities from the United States and 225 from the Czech Republic completed a qualitative quality of life survey. Similarities in the two groups were found in reported gains and losses from caregiving responsibilities. Differences in perceived spirituality, personal sense of peace and serenity, life optimism, ability to rejoice in life, personal life perspective, health, financial …

Teaching Prayer: Pilot Survey Of Academic Courses On Personal Prayer, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

The practical concerns of an individual interested in learning about prayer in an academic context are interconnected with the practical concerns about teaching an academic course on prayer. A pilot study proposed to investigate and evaluate the context and content of academic courses on personal prayer from the perspective of teaching prayer, asking what proportion of institutions of higher education offer courses on prayer, in which department, and on what level. The search was limited to the Christian faith, and in particular to private colleges and universities of the Catholic denomination. An online Internet search yielded a sample of 126 …