Education Commons^™

Voices Of Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study Of Relational Encounters And Their Significance Within The School Setting, Clayton Werner Hall

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored adolescent perceptions of affirming and disaffirming relational encounters within the school setting. The meanings students constructed about their interpersonal experiences with teachers, counselors, and support staff were examined in relation to Buber’s existential I-Thou relational encounter. In addition to the work of phenomenological philosopher Merleau-Ponty, existential educators Maxine Greene and Donald Vandenberg and the writings of relational- and care-oriented educators such as Nel Noddings also informed the conceptual framework of the study.

The voices of individual youth and how they perceive, attach meaning to, and integrate relational encounters into their understandings of the world around them …