Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Kakali Bhattacharya / Royce Ann Collins / How can an adult make meaning from and develop through experiences of mental illness, spiritual awareness, and death? The purpose of this autoethnographic bildungsroman is to explore how a male in the general population describes how life events have influenced his identity development over a period of 23 years, spanning three decades. The researcher-participant asks two primary questions: 1) How does the individual describe his adult development in terms of life events or “individual and cultural episodes” (Smith & Taylor, 2010, p. 52) related to mental illness, spiritual awareness, and death over time? and 2) How does the individual describe his possible selves in constructing a new sense of identity? Addressing these questions contributes to the literature of adult and continuing education by providing a glimpse into stories of lived experiences over time in the light of adult development.

This study was based on three interviews with three internationally adopted young adults. The aim of the study was to explore how international adopted young adults have experienced their identity development in a retrospective perspective in relation to family and friends. To answer the research-questions semi-structured qualitative inter­views have been performed. A narrative method was chosen to explore how the parti­cipants' described their experiences. Topics that appeared in the result where topics such as family relationships, the society’s influence on the participants and connections to other adoptees. The conclusions of this study were that com­muni­cation and connections to family was an essential factor in the subjects' identity develop­ment. The informants feeling of belonging was affected by society´s influence on appearances and it was important for the participants to have someone in their life that they could talk to and get support from.

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / This case study examined the creation of a collaborative learning environment focused on the development of teacher attitudes, perceptions, and practices that are culturally responsive. Sixth and eighth grade teachers collaborated in small groups over the course of a school-year, focusing on dialogue, activities, and readings related to race and culture. The ways in which teachers involved in the study developed thinking in regards to their cultural awareness, sense of efficacy, and instructional practices played central roles in this study. This qualitative case study was conducted by the school principal, who was a participant-observer. Data collection instruments included pre-program interviews, mid-program reflective journals, post-program interviews, and researcher field notes. Prior to the start of the program, teachers expressed that they rarely spoke with students and peers about issues related to race and culture, provided minimal accommodations for students of color within the classroom setting, exhibited mixed beliefs in terms of their abilities as teachers to meet the learning needs of students of color, and had a limited understanding of their own racial identities. As a result of their participation in the Culturally Responsive Teaching Program, most teachers experienced growth in terms of their perceptions of the their own racial identity development, efficacy, and increased their sense of comfort and desire to speak with students and peers about issues related to race and culture. Implications for practice include the need for; courageous leadership, persistence, promotion of the development of racial identity, understanding of racial identity development, promotion of collaboration, advancement of transformational learning, and the development of multi-dimensional learning experiences. Limitations of this study include the researcher's role as school principal and participant-observer, small sample size, and relatively short study duration. Recommendations for future research include increasing the sample size and program duration, investigation of changes in student experiences as a result of teacher participation in a similar program, and investigating the effect of a similar program when focused upon particular racial and cultural groups, as opposed to the broad approach utilized within the Culturally Responsive Teaching Program. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Janet E. Helms / Supervision may be an ideal format for training psychologists to be racially and culturally responsive because supervisors can tailor interventions to fit supervisees’ individual developmental needs. Nevertheless, over 30 years ago, counseling psychology researchers began identifying harmful effects of racially and culturally unresponsive supervision from the perspectives of supervisees. Missing from the literature has been empirical evidence from the perspectives of supervisors themselves. Moreover, research has failed to explore the influence of context (i.e., mental health sites) on supervision that addresses race and culture. The present study explored supervisors’ perspectives and experiences as they pertained to (a) providing racially and culturally responsive supervision, (b) the racial climate of their mental health work environments, and (c) influences of their institutional racial climates on their supervision practices as they pertained to race and culture. Interviews with psychologists, who identified as Black (n = 4) and White (n = 4), were analyzed using directed content analysis guided by the Racial Identity Social Interaction Model. Core domains and themes from the analysis drew connections between the supervisors’ perceptions of the racial climate of their institution and the challenges of supervising on race and culture. Findings from the study highlight the ways in which supervisors in mental health settings attempt to protect their supervisees in environments in which they often feel unprotected. Limitations and implications of the study for supervision theory, research, and practice are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

For many individuals, the college environment provides the context in which one develops sexual identity. To understand students’ sexual identity development, many theories exist including theories on heterosexuality, queer sexual identities, and those broadly covering all sexual identities. One commonality across these theories is the assumption that all people experience sexual attraction. For students who identify with the spectrum of asexual identities, existing theories do not account for their experiences. Moreover, in hyper-sexualized college environments entrenched in hookup culture, asexual students experience harassment and erasure. The purpose of this study is to develop a theory of asexual college students’ identity development considering the context of their collegiate environment. Having a theory of asexual students’ identity development will allow students to see their experiences represented in theory, provide a framework for student affairs professionals to develop services and resources to support asexual students, and provide theoretical contributions for further research about asexuality. This study uses qualitative inquiry to learn from participants’ stories and experiences by employing constructivist grounded theory methods. Study participants include undergraduate and graduate students who self-identify within the spectrum of asexual identities. The study acknowledges students’ multiple identities including race, gender, ability status, and romantic attraction to create a theory where diverse individuals are depicted. Two questions guide this study: 1) What is the process of asexual college student identity development? and 2) How does the college context influence asexual college students’ identity development?

The prevalence of nonmarital sexual behavior among adolescents continues to rise, as does the number of sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies. College-age adolescents appear to be even more susceptible to these problems. Sound theoretical knowledge would seem useful in designing more effective prevention programs. The purpose of this study was to identity theoretical factors that contribute to or decrease such behaviors. Two hundred fifty-two single college students completed measures designed to examine relations among identity development, attachment patterns, gender, and sexual behavior in older adolescents. Attachment and identity measures were used to explore variations in sexual behavior relating to identity development and the quality of intimate relationships formed in late adolescence. Three measures were used to assess these theoretical constructs and to measure sexual behavior: The Personal Opinion Survey contains Grotevant and Adams' 64-item Extended Version of the Objective Measure ofEgo Identity Status; a modified version of Simpson, Rholes, and Nelligan's 13-item Attachment Style measure; and 19 items that assess sexual behaviors. Results confirmed statistically significant relations among identity development, attachment patterns, gender, and sexual behavior. Specifically, correlational analyses confirmed relations among identity, attachment, and premarital intercourse, age of first intercourse, and items pertaining to risky sexual behavior. Identity was also statistically significantly related to premarital intercourse. Attachment and identity sub scale scores were predictive of sexual behavior when multiple regression equations were generated. Previous studies of identity, gender, and intimacy among older adolescents support the findings ofthis study. Other researchers have found relationships between attachment and intimacy among this population. The results of this study and future research areas are discussed.

Through this study I have provided an understanding of what French immersion was like for children who left the program. I have considered an important aspect of the French immersion program that has been neglected in the research literature. My main research question was: What were the experiences of French immersion students who withdrew from their program during the elementary years? Subsequent questions included: How did they deal with repeated failure? How did they cope with the frustration? How did these failures and frustrations change after they left the French immersion program? How do they make sense of their experiences?<p>In this study, I listened to students voices to gain insights that lead to an understanding of how they make sense of what school was like for them during their years in French immersion. Using narrative inquiry, I focused on the lived, storied experiences of students who have not succeeded in a French immersion program. By listening to the students storied conversations, I have developed a deeper understanding of failed immersion experiences than that which is currently provided in the literature.<p>The six students in this study were aware of their lack of progress in the French immersion program and were unable to become active participants in the classroom community. The inability to become engaged further marginalized them as learners and led to the development of school stories about them. These school stories soon became designated identities with which the children had to cope. <p>By honoring the experiences of the students and including their voices, I have outlined information to aid educators to make decisions for more appropriate programming choices. This information demonstrates the need for timely intervention for some students to improve their school experience. Parents, teachers, and policy makers can then make decisions with the added knowledge provided by the students stories.

Through this study I have provided an understanding of what French immersion was like for children who left the program. I have considered an important aspect of the French immersion program that has been neglected in the research literature. My main research question was: What were the experiences of French immersion students who withdrew from their program during the elementary years? Subsequent questions included: How did they deal with repeated failure? How did they cope with the frustration? How did these failures and frustrations change after they left the French immersion program? How do they make sense of their experiences?<p>In this study, I listened to students voices to gain insights that lead to an understanding of how they make sense of what school was like for them during their years in French immersion. Using narrative inquiry, I focused on the lived, storied experiences of students who have not succeeded in a French immersion program. By listening to the students storied conversations, I have developed a deeper understanding of failed immersion experiences than that which is currently provided in the literature.<p>The six students in this study were aware of their lack of progress in the French immersion program and were unable to become active participants in the classroom community. The inability to become engaged further marginalized them as learners and led to the development of school stories about them. These school stories soon became designated identities with which the children had to cope. <p>By honoring the experiences of the students and including their voices, I have outlined information to aid educators to make decisions for more appropriate programming choices. This information demonstrates the need for timely intervention for some students to improve their school experience. Parents, teachers, and policy makers can then make decisions with the added knowledge provided by the students stories.

“First-generation college student” is a category ubiquitous in higher education literature due to the social mobility this group has the potential of deriving from educational attainment. However, the first category is comprised of a diverse group of students who do not share any other common research construct, such as race/ethnicity, culture, immigrant status, or socioeconomic status. In addition, the literature often conceives of firsts from a deficit standpoint, blaming the students for lack of success attaching low expectations to students’ identity. In addition, although the literature implies that an intersectional approach would be appropriate for understanding this population, no work to date has attempted to apply an explicitly intersectional framework or considered probing the boundaries of the category itself. The goals of this study, therefore, were to understand the narratives of successful firsts at a highly selective institution in order to understand how students’ intersectional identities shaped their educational trajectories, and to understand the impact of utilizing a socially constructed and deficit-oriented category in research and practice. To achieve these aims, this study utilized a visual narrative analytic method. Seventeen successful participants self-identified as firsts and participated in two one-on-one interviews and took or found pictures relating to their pre-college and college experiences. I found that firsts made meaning of their multiple, intersecting identities in diverse ways. Although students had internalized conceptions of first status as a detriment to their educational opportunities, they were able to reframe this deficit as success through the American dream storyline. In addition, students’ multiple identities intersected and informed their educational trajectories in unique and individualized ways. These identities flowed through the constructs of personal characteristics, familial characteristics, and characteristics that were negotiated in personal and familial contexts. Students conceptualized success being intrinsically linked to learning, contributing to future generational success, and saw themselves as making contributions to the academy via the ideas of service and diversity. Students were able to reframe negative societal expectations, focus on learning as a goal in and of itself, and associate success with self in way that suggests that examining firsts through any single identity frame limiting in understand the ways they navigate and make meaning of their experiences. In addition, students saw themselves as making unique contributions to the academy via service and diversity. The present study offers conceptual maps to explain how students talked about their identities as well as the notion of success. I also offer suggestions for research, theory, policy, and practice. / text

The current report reviews the recent research on online social networking sites (MySpace and Facebook), and their impact on adolescent self-concept and identity development. This paper describes the history and recent expansion of social networking sites, followed by an overview of adolescent identity development. The literature suggests both positive and negative effects of social networking use on adolescent self-concept. Positive effects include the strengthening of group identity, the benefits of self-expression, and the ability to reinforce social relationships. On the other hand, negative effects include an intensified discrepancy between one’s ideal and actual selves, false representations of the self, and the risks involved with online disclosure. The relationship between personality factors and social networking use is also explored. Finally included are implications of this research for school counselors working with adolescents growing up in the digital age. / text