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Full-Text Articles in Education

It Takes Heart: Building Peer-Driven Training Initiatives Through Workers' Stories, Deborah Lynne Moy Jan 2023

It Takes Heart: Building Peer-Driven Training Initiatives Through Workers' Stories, Deborah Lynne Moy

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

My research inquiry is centered on the larger project of building a transformational, empowerment model of worker voice in workplaces. The purpose of my research is to explore/illuminate the question, “How can I use workers’ stories to center and advance collaborative worker voice on the job through peer-driven training initiatives?” I frame this general research inquiry around two key questions: (a) How do I create authentic spaces for workers’ stories to emerge from the heart? (b) How do I use workers’ stories to create the environment needed for workers to become peer teachers/leaders of their own training initiatives? This study’s …


Mokṣa, Seeking A Humanizing Way Of Being: I Am Recognized. I Am Acknowledged. I Am Human., Lauralynn Jansen Jan 2023

Mokṣa, Seeking A Humanizing Way Of Being: I Am Recognized. I Am Acknowledged. I Am Human., Lauralynn Jansen

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation delves into the intricate dimensions of humanization by shifting the analytical focus from denial and exclusion to affirmative aspects of inclusion. The central aim of this research is to unravel the mechanisms underlying the process of humanization, or how individuals perceive and internalize their being recognized as human beings. Employing the critical incident technique, this research methodically examined the lived experiences of a highly diverse group of individuals living with varying social stigmas and how they experience humanization. This research displays the intricate interplay of language, actions, and sensory elements engendered before, during, and after a humanizing moment. …


Navigating Opportunities To Improve Youth Outcomes In A Least Developed Country: An Action Research Study, Naomi Docilait Jan 2023

Navigating Opportunities To Improve Youth Outcomes In A Least Developed Country: An Action Research Study, Naomi Docilait

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The ambitious United Nations-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require the concentrated effort of governments, the business sector, and other key stakeholders, including women and youth, for its success. Effective leadership will be essential for different sectors to integrate these development goals into strategic plans and operational activities in the service of realizing this agenda by 2030. Unfortunately for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the COVID-19 pandemic caused the worst economic outcomes in 30 years. For this group of countries, the pandemic has negatively influenced efforts to eradicate poverty and improve social outcomes. This setback makes achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by …


From A Boy To A Leader, Alejandro Zayas Jan 2023

From A Boy To A Leader, Alejandro Zayas

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The following autoethnographic dissertation examines my personal experiences of trauma, abuse, and violence. Drawing on journals, memories, and artifacts from my life, I use self-reflection to illustrate the impacts of trauma on my childhood and adulthood. My traumatic experiences of sexual abuse, childhood violence, and emotional abuse are situated within broader sociocultural contexts of masculinity, Hispanic culture, and social norms. This study illuminates possibilities for healing and transformation for myself and others with shared traumatic backgrounds. It calls for trauma-informed education, masculinity, and resiliency. Evocatively sharing my traumatic life events provides an accessible window into often silenced experiences, bearing witness …


Experiencing Workplace Inclusion: Critical Incidents That Create A Sense Of Inclusion For Professional Staff In Higher Education, Katherine Penn Lampley Jan 2023

Experiencing Workplace Inclusion: Critical Incidents That Create A Sense Of Inclusion For Professional Staff In Higher Education, Katherine Penn Lampley

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Professional staff make up the majority of employees at colleges and universities in the United States but are rarely the focus of research in higher education. As a result, little is known about how these employees experience the workplace, creating a challenge for educational institutions working to attract, develop, and retain this essential resource. Employees who feel included in the workplace have higher performance levels and are more likely to remain with their organizations, but workplace inclusion is a complex and undertheorized psychological phenomenon. This exploratory study provides insight into the psychological experience of inclusion by examining the experiences, interactions, …


Love And Learn: Creating Space For Authentic Caring In Family Child Care, Katherine Kelly Hart Meehan Jan 2022

Love And Learn: Creating Space For Authentic Caring In Family Child Care, Katherine Kelly Hart Meehan

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Children benefit from engagement in early education and care (ECE) programs that support their learning and development while also providing a point of connection to critical resources for their families. For children from economically disadvantaged families, the lack of access to high-quality ECE results in a persistent achievement and opportunity gap (García & Weiss, 2015). A significant portion of ECE occurs in home-based early learning environments, also known as family child care (FCC) programs, which play a critical role in supporting children from low-income and immigrant families (Layzer et al., 2007; Porter et al., 2010). Unfortunately, this sector of ECE …


Locating Uncertainty In Hospital Leader Sensemaking And Sensegiving Of Organizational Change: A Single Case Study, Sara E. Barry Jan 2022

Locating Uncertainty In Hospital Leader Sensemaking And Sensegiving Of Organizational Change: A Single Case Study, Sara E. Barry

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Leaders planning strategic change face significant ambiguity and uncertainty due to the complex, fast-paced, and volatile nature of organizational life. What one leader sees as an opportunity, another may view as a threat depending on their past experiences, their existing mental models, and their perceptions of uncertainty. Sensemaking and sensegiving theories provide a framework for how leaders retrospectively make sense of new and disorienting information through recursive cycles of interpretation, action, and learning, and seek to influence the meaning-making of others towards a shared vision of the strategic change. Despite decades of research using these theories, studies have yet to …


When Knowing Is Not Enough: A Narrative Exploration Of How K-12 Teachers Make Decisions About The Transfer Of Critical Competencies From Professional Learning To Daily Practice, Nell E. Ballard-Jones Jan 2021

When Knowing Is Not Enough: A Narrative Exploration Of How K-12 Teachers Make Decisions About The Transfer Of Critical Competencies From Professional Learning To Daily Practice, Nell E. Ballard-Jones

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

School districts spend millions of dollars each year to provide training and learning to staff working in direct and indirect service to students (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2021). This financial commitment says nothing about what is even more important: the need for school employees and the systems in which we work to serve students more effectively. Despite vast allocations of time and money and presumably best intentions for better social and academic outcomes for students, very little data exist that reflect regular transfer and application of training/learning into professional practice (Nittler et al., 2015). By and large, schools and …


Shifting Paradigms: Using Action Research To Redefine Engagement In Faith Formation In Unitarian Universalism, Amy Huntereece Jan 2021

Shifting Paradigms: Using Action Research To Redefine Engagement In Faith Formation In Unitarian Universalism, Amy Huntereece

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The issues that this research addressed were the changes related to engagement in religious education (RE) in the Unitarian Universalist (UU) church in the past several decades. To address this problem, the purpose of this research was to innovatively problem-solve with other religious professionals and consider how to redefine engagement to support families in their faith formation. The research aims to answer the question: How could UU RE professionals more effectively engage families in faith formation opportunities designed to meet the desired outcomes of RE parents/caregivers? To gather data, interviews with seven Millennial and Generation X parents/caregivers from the Baja …


The Trust Decoder™: An Examination Of An Individual's Developmental Readiness To Trust In The Workplace, Molly Breysse Cox Jan 2019

The Trust Decoder™: An Examination Of An Individual's Developmental Readiness To Trust In The Workplace, Molly Breysse Cox

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This research explores an individual's self-perception of their own ability, motivation, and propensity to trust others for the purpose of validating a new construct: developmental readiness to trust others in the workplace. This construct expands research on developmental readiness to change and to lead by building a scale to measure an individual's motivation and ability to trust others in the workplace. A previously validated scale developed by Frazier, Johnson, and Fainshmidt 2013 measuring propensity to trust was included the scale building process. All items measuring motivation to trust were newly developed for this study, items measuring trust ability were adapted …


Journeys Through Rough Country: An Ethnographic Study Of Blind Adults Successfully Employed In American Corporations, Kirk Adams Jan 2019

Journeys Through Rough Country: An Ethnographic Study Of Blind Adults Successfully Employed In American Corporations, Kirk Adams

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Blind and visually impaired people in the United States face a dire employment situation within professional careers and corporate employment. The purpose of this research study was to gain insights into the phenomenon of employment of blind people through analyzing the lived experience of successfully employed blind adults through ethnographic interviews. Previous research has shown that seven out of ten blind adults are not in the workforce, that a large percentage of those who are employed consider themselves underemployed, and that these numbers have not improved over time. Missing from previous research were insights into the conditions leading to successful …


Servant Leadership Characteristics And Empathic Care: Developing A Culture Of Empathy In The Healthcare Setting, Mark Anthony Martin Jan 2019

Servant Leadership Characteristics And Empathic Care: Developing A Culture Of Empathy In The Healthcare Setting, Mark Anthony Martin

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which servant leadership characteristics are exhibited in medical group practices, and the degree to which servant leadership characteristics correlated with measures of empathic care. This study featured an explanatory mixed methods research design embedded in appreciative inquiry. A total of 189 mid-level practitioners consisting of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and practice mangers responded to a 32-item scale survey that featured a six-point Likert scale to measure servant leadership items and a 10-point continuous scale to assess measures of empathic care. The servant leadership items were based on the seven …


The Relationship Between Mindfulness And Leadership: How Mindfulness Practices Affect Leadership Practices, James Van Auken Jan 2019

The Relationship Between Mindfulness And Leadership: How Mindfulness Practices Affect Leadership Practices, James Van Auken

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The aim of this study was to explore and understand the relationship between mindfulness practices and actual leadership practices. This qualitative study utilized narrative inquiry with phenomenological interviewing techniques to explore selective leaders who use mindfulness practices, and see how they used mindfulness in their leadership practice. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted and thematic analysis was utilized. Eleven themes were identified with multiple sub- and sub-sub-themes, including: “Personal, Internal Mindfulness Practice,” “Being Mindful Toward Self,” “Being Present with Others,” “Being Present with a Group,” “Mindful Shift of Focus/Attention,” “Emotional Intelligence,” “Buffering of Reactivity,” “Resilience and Recovery,” “Alignment,” “Improved Job Performance,” …


Come Together: Inclusive Leadership And Public Relations Education, Heather Paige Preston Jan 2019

Come Together: Inclusive Leadership And Public Relations Education, Heather Paige Preston

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Multiple voices from educational and professional arenas have called for change in the way in which public relations undergraduates are prepared to navigate complex communication challenges in the 21st century. Some scholars have advanced leadership as a way to address this change, identifying the undergraduate public relations curriculum as the ideal place to introduce future practitioners to leadership as a way to better prepare them to initiate and participate in positive social change in complex contexts. However, scholars have neither made in-depth connections with leadership theory and practice, nor provided a framework for designing a curriculum for incorporating leadership into …


Students' Perceived Value Of The Community College Experience: A Mixed Methods Study, Robin A. Duncan Jan 2018

Students' Perceived Value Of The Community College Experience: A Mixed Methods Study, Robin A. Duncan

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceived value of their community college experience and its relationship to other factors often related to student persistence in college, namely satisfaction, academic quality, service quality, and engagement. The research was guided by three focused questions: How do students describe and define perceived value of community college; what components emerge from exploratory factor analysis of items designed to measure perceived value; and how, if at all, is a student’s perception of the value of a community college experience different from related measures such as satisfaction, engagement, or quality? Data were collected …


Development And Validation Of The Adaptive Leadership With Authority Scale, Mohammed Raei Jan 2018

Development And Validation Of The Adaptive Leadership With Authority Scale, Mohammed Raei

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

A reliable scale to measure adaptive leadership with authority—leadership from a position of power—does not exist. This was an embedded mixed-methods study–QUAN(qual) with data collected through an online survey instrument that included the proposed scale items and an open-ended question. The quantitative part of the study, using data from 436 respondents (92.7% from Mechanical Turk, 7.3% from snowball sampling), involved the development and validation of a unidimensional scale that measures adaptive leadership with authority using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The 11-item scale had a Cronbach’s alpha value of .891 and thus displayed high reliability. In the qualitative part of …


Developing A Resilience-Thinking Leadership Mindset Scale, Lloyd Duman Jan 2018

Developing A Resilience-Thinking Leadership Mindset Scale, Lloyd Duman

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop a resilience-thinking leadership mindset construct and scale. Although literature exists on developing resilience and relational leadership theories, very little research and literature address a resilience-thinking mindset as a leadership strategy. This study represents an initial step in filling this gap. This research project was the initial phase toward the development of a resilience-thinking leadership mindset (RTLM) scale. I used a mixed-methods approach which was divided into three stages. Stage 1 involved the development of the scale items and assessment of both face and content validity to revise the original scale. Stage 2 …


Inclusive Leadership's Evolving Context: Organizational Climate And Culture Connect, Maria E. Dezenberg Jan 2017

Inclusive Leadership's Evolving Context: Organizational Climate And Culture Connect, Maria E. Dezenberg

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Conventional forms of leadership that are prominent in organizational life today are seemingly antithetical to the landscape of our dynamic, global society. The continued focus on traditional hierarchies with leadership that functions in a “chain of command” manner begs the question of how organizations can reshape routines and relationships to reflect processes of inclusion and collaboration that have the capability of provoking progressive change in organizations. Diversity and Inclusion scholars have identified the newer construct of inclusive leadership as apt to advance climates and cultures of inclusion through social processes that encourage inclusive practices and behaviors. These fluid aspects of …


Rhizomatic Learning And Adapting: A Case Study Exploring An Interprofessional Team's Lived Experiences, Renee Charney Jan 2017

Rhizomatic Learning And Adapting: A Case Study Exploring An Interprofessional Team's Lived Experiences, Renee Charney

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this theoretical case study was to explore the lived experiences of members within an inter-professional team about how they learn and adapt while dedicating their lives toward the well-being of students residing in and attending a rehabilitation home school. Although there is broad literature that addresses legacy learning theories and frameworks, as well as complex-adaptive organizations, very little shows how the application of rhizome philosophy principles address learning and adapting within an organizational context. This study is a step toward addressing that gap. Using interviews, thematic analysis, and storyline networking, the study explored in depth the lived …


A Method To My Quietness: A Grounded Theory Study Of Living And Leading With Introversion, Leatrice Oram Jan 2016

A Method To My Quietness: A Grounded Theory Study Of Living And Leading With Introversion, Leatrice Oram

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Leadership scholar-practitioners must create a more sustainable, diverse, and equitable future, fostering emergence and development of resilient, competent leaders, including those who may have been previously overlooked.Leadership studies, particularly those situated in early trait and behavior paradigms, have long privileged extraverted leaders as ideal.The scholarly conversation is limited on introverted leaders; moreover, most of that literature depicts introversion as either a pathological construct associated with shyness and social anxiety, or includes introversion only by omission, as a state of deficit-of-extraversion.This study instead began with positive inquiry, framing introversion as a positive individual difference, and explored the lived experiences of introverted …


Toward Transforming Health Systems: A Practice Study Of Organizing And Practical Inquiry In Academic Medicine, Thomas A. Ellison Jan 2015

Toward Transforming Health Systems: A Practice Study Of Organizing And Practical Inquiry In Academic Medicine, Thomas A. Ellison

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Transformation of health care systems will be grounded in new professional relations and collective, cross-disciplinary actions to impact care delivery. Organizing such relations and actions involves practical inquiry rather than applying professional knowledge. This dissertation presents an exploratory, performative study of the initial organizing of the Health Systems Innovation and Research (HSIR) Program in Health Sciences at the University of Utah. The HSIR program was conceived principally to catalyze cross-disciplinary innovation and health services research and enhance care delivery changes by documenting care improvements and publishing research. This study includes a composite narrative of the organizing and practical inquiry work …


Wise By Design: A Wisdom-Based Framework For Innovation And Organizational Design And Its Potential Application In The Future Of Higher Education, Juan Francisco Suarez Jan 2014

Wise By Design: A Wisdom-Based Framework For Innovation And Organizational Design And Its Potential Application In The Future Of Higher Education, Juan Francisco Suarez

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

A wiser socio-economic system, by design and not by chance, may well benefit from a series of design principles drawn from the well of wisdom. This dissertation focused on a refined set of eight components of wisdom through research designed to explore if, how, and when they are invoked by a group of experts participating in a futures discussion about organizations in their field of practice, American higher education. The aim was to explore a set of wisdom-centered design principles (denoted as Wise By Design [WBD]) for social innovation, specifically in the design of organizations that would thrive in the …


Measuring Normlessness In The Workplace: A Study Of Organizational Anomie In The Academic Setting, Tayo Glenn Switzer Jan 2013

Measuring Normlessness In The Workplace: A Study Of Organizational Anomie In The Academic Setting, Tayo Glenn Switzer

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation explores leadership and change by examining normlessness in the workplace through a multi-layered study of anomie theory, anomie research in the workplace, and organizational and business management theory. The research validates a quantitative survey designed to measure the level of normlessness experienced by workgroups within an organizational context. The survey reflects a set of six normative aspects that when disrupted produce organizational anomie—a state of normlessness that leads to an increase in worker resistance and a reduction in worker consent. The audience studied in this dissertation is associate professors at a large Midwestern research university. Data were gathered …


Characteristics Of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools, Jan Ware Russell Jan 2013

Characteristics Of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools, Jan Ware Russell

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Progressive education has a long history within the American K-12 education system dating back to the late 1800s. During this period, two very distinct ideologies represented progressive education: 1) administrative progressives supporting standardization as a means of efficiency and 2) pedagogical progressives supporting child-centered learning based upon a well-rounded education. This study looks at 82 contemporary pedagogical progressive schools to identify common characteristics. Child-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision-making were the three overarching philosophies covered in this study. Data was collected through an online survey of school leaders. The majority of research surrounding progressive education is qualitative and focuses …


Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele Jan 2013

Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change …


Exploring Tribal College And University (Tcu) Faculty Collegiality, Nora Antoine Jan 2013

Exploring Tribal College And University (Tcu) Faculty Collegiality, Nora Antoine

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation study explores Tribal College and University (TCU) faculty collegiality utilizing qualitative and indigenous research methodology approaches. Since collegiality is a multidimensional construct, a Rolling Survey process was developed to provide a vehicle for discussion. Within focus group settings, TCU faculty participants created a composite about their relationships, communications, and professional development. Dialogue affirmed important professional relationships and explored issues that contribute or detract from TCU faculty work experiences. The results of this study further suggest wider applications for leadership and businesses in general, affirming the importance of and the need to support professional working relationships. The electronic version …


Leading Deeply: A Heroic Journey Toward Wisdom And Transformation, Richard Warm Jan 2012

Leading Deeply: A Heroic Journey Toward Wisdom And Transformation, Richard Warm

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation will explore leadership as a mytho-poetic transformational journey toward self-knowledge, authenticity, and ultimately wisdom; the power to make meaning and give something back to the world in which we live; and the necessity of transformation. I view leadership as a transformative process and a transformational responsibility. As leaders we must undergo our own transformation in order to lead change on a larger scale. The dissertation will be both philosophical and theoretical, exploring how the threads of the hero’s journey, transformation, wisdom, and leadership intertwine. It will also examine the role of education in this process. Education does not …


Faculty Work: Moving Beyond The Paradox Of Autonomy And Collaboration, Mark A. Hower Jan 2012

Faculty Work: Moving Beyond The Paradox Of Autonomy And Collaboration, Mark A. Hower

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Freedom to pursue one's intellectual interests, known as professional autonomy, is a valued and longstanding faculty tradition. Profound changes in society and the academy, however, suggest new values may be emerging. Collaboration, for example, is increasingly vital to success outside of the academy, and faculty culture, long an individualistic domain, may be shifting in response. This multiple case study explores how faculty members experience the relationship between professional autonomy and collaboration within the context of their department work. Faculty members in four departments were interviewed and both qualitative and simple quantitative data collected. The study found faculty members satisfied with …


The Shift In Coaching Dynamics During Long-Term Business Coaching Relationships, Axel Meierhoefer Jan 2011

The Shift In Coaching Dynamics During Long-Term Business Coaching Relationships, Axel Meierhoefer

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The focus of this dissertation was on the changes in long-term external business coaching relationships (defined as more than 4 months). The current study intended to answer two questions: (a) how does the relationship between a coach and a coachee change in long-term coaching engagements? and (b) how do these changes impact the coaching process dynamics and results? The phenomenon that was discovered through this research is called the shift moment. It exemplifies the transition from skill or problem oriented issues, which often represent the original cause of the coaching relationship, to the holistic transformation of the coachee. A qualitative …


Socio-Economic Stability And Independence Of Appalachian Women, Michele Dawn Kegley Jan 2011

Socio-Economic Stability And Independence Of Appalachian Women, Michele Dawn Kegley

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study researched Appalachian women who were in emotional, social, or economic reliant relationships with male spouses and became socio-economically stable and independent. This effort is to give Appalachian women voice and learn from their accounts of how they led change by financially, physically, and socially providing for themselves and their dependent children. Research is limited to a particular group of white middle class Appalachian women in the North-Central sub-region of Appalachia. This group was chosen because they have been largely overlooked in the literature. However, this study does not answer questions of all women‘s experiences and barriers in Appalachia. …