Education Commons^™

An Application Of Lewin In A Trans-Pandemic World: A Narrative Inquiry In A Case Study With A Suggested Model For The Future, Chandler Barksdale Ewell Caldwell

Theses and Dissertations

Change is constant in today’s post-pandemic world. This is truly evident in online business success with entrepreneurs that defy past limitations and rely on future vision. This study purposely attempts to identify and qualify the impact of stylized change focused leadership in response to workplace changes during the variant challenges of the corona virus pandemic. The relevancy of Lewin’s organizational change model in today’s new normal provides the foundation for this research. Data were gathered through interview with a purposive sample of 12 managers executives and team members from a public sector organization. Evolving through an iterative process of evaluation …

Transformational Leadership Strategies In U.S. Public Universities, Jason C. Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the transformational leadership strategies used by university leaders to transform their respective institutions of higher education in the post-pandemic era. The study builds on Bass's (1985a) transformational leadership model, and the guiding research question is, "What transformational leadership strategies do university leaders use to transform university environments?" The study utilizes a narrative inquiry approach to collect and analyze data from publicly available and accessible sources. The data analysis highlights four themes of transformational leadership practices, including idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. The findings reveal that transformational leaders exhibit high moral standards, personal …

Best Practices Of Virtual Learning For K-5 Students, Bailey Hooper

Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in technology, virtual learning programs continue to grow in popularity within the United States. Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the kindergarten through fifth grade (K-5) virtual learning population has increased each year slowly since the late 1900s. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic millions of K-5 students were engaged in virtual learning. However, the academic outcomes and learning loss that resulted from the school shutdowns caused many misconceptions regarding the educational and social developments of K-5 students enrolled in virtual classes. Yet, studies consistently prove synchronous virtual instruction can be as effective as traditional face-to-face learning. The …

Examining The Workplace Well-Being Of Elementary School Teachers Whose Students Participated In A Social Emotional Learning Program, Yorri Berry

Theses and Dissertations

In the past few decades, public school teachers have faced many challenges, including differentiated instruction to diverse students, increased classroom management, and standardized testing. The accumulation of these challenges has created high teacher attrition rates leading to teaching shortages. Understanding the barriers and useful supports to address the challenges teachers face can help lower attrition rates and enhance teaching quality. This study examines the workplace well-being of elementary school teachers whose students participated in a social and emotional learning program. The study included 16 elementary school teachers in schools with a large population of students who are particularly vulnerable to …

Vocational Tertiary Education Of Young Adults In Kenya: Model Development, Kristina Marie Lux

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to create a model of tertiary vocational education in Kenya. Despite considerable progress in Kenya over the last 20 years, current education models, low attendance, and low academic proficiency levels preclude many vulnerable learners from becoming employable. Utilizing semi-structured interviews of eight Kenyan participants, this study explores the testable design principles necessary to create such a micro-trade model. Utilizing Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), a quantitative ethnographic technique, to model the structure of connections in data, this study attempts to systematically identify a set of constructs, as they are recorded in interview codes, connected to …

Resilience In Early Second Career Stem Teachers Employed In Public Secondary Schools, Donald Selway

Theses and Dissertations

A troubling shortage of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineer and Mathematics (STEM) teachers exists in the United States. One solution to increase STEM teachers involves recruiting STEM professionals to transition from industry to K-12 teaching. Research indicates that fostering resilience is one way to help new STEM teachers’ retention and persistence in the field. This study explored individual and programmatic factors that increase early career and early second career K-12 STEM teachers’ resilience. Moreover, this research examined how strategic initiatives and programs assisted STEM professionals to build resilience as they transitioned into K-12 STEM educators.

This study utilized mixed-methods design to …