Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 11, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3173. Adviser: Colin F. Allen.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 64 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-56).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Philosophy, 2006. / "Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 16, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-10, Section: A, page: 3840. Adviser: Tim O'Connor.

<p> The concept of self-esteem has so thoroughly infiltrated American education that &ldquo;most educators believe developing self-esteem to be one of the primary purposes of public education&rdquo; (Stout, 2001, p. 119). That the available scholarship challenging the validity of self-esteem principles has had little to no impact on schooling and school policy demonstrates the need for more a comprehensive interrogation of a concept that has become so pervasive and commonsensical that many administrators and teachers do not even think to question its place in traditional pedagogy, let alone consider the possibility that self-esteem is a damaging ideological construct. The rhetorical (and impossible) promise of self-esteem as both a quantifiable and fixed human resource has proliferated in educational language as schools continue to promote self-esteem among racialized and poorly performing students, while the structural conditions that negatively impact these students&rsquo; performance in the first place remain intact.</p><p> The legacy of self-esteem in educational discourse requires a critical interpretation, or re-interpretation, by educators who wish to challenge oppressive commonsense assumptions and feel-good principles that covertly help to maintain &ldquo;dominant cultural norms that do little more than preserve social inequality&rdquo; (Darder, 2015, p. 1). This study takes a decolonizing approach that involves a substantive interrogation&mdash;historical, political, and philosophical&mdash;of the Eurocentric epistemological concept of self-esteem, in order to demonstrate the debilitating effects that self-esteem has on students from working-class communities of color. It then suggests an emancipatory understanding of the self and alternative critical pedagogical principles of social empowerment.</p>

Husserlian phenomenology has often been cited as having influenced research methodologies within nursing research and psychology. However, at the same time, Husserl is explicitly opposed to what he termed as psychologism. The following thesis argues that Husserl’s opposition to the psychology of his day was based specifically upon his opposition of naturalism’s treatment of consciousness. Moreover, the thesis argues that there is a tendency within the Social Sciences to misread Husserlian Phenomenology as a type of introspectionists’ account of subjective states. The thesis critiques the claim that cognitive therapy is Husserlian phenomenology, but concludes that there are aspects of cognitive psychotherapy which do appear to be using parts of a methodology that Husserl would have recognised as a legitimate phenomenology. Indeed, the thesis argues that by gaining a further understanding of Husserl’s ‘discovery’ of attitude and interest and the fundamental structures of intentionality, cognitive therapists could enhance and further their understanding of what takes place within the change process during cognitive psychotherapy; and conversely, cognitive therapy’s description of the maintenance of emotional disorders can contribute to Husserl’s own account of the natural attitude. That is, that the natural attitude consists of a universalising attitude which is fundamental to the natural attitude per se. The thesis develops this argument further, by examining the theoretical underpinnings within cognitive therapy and extrapolating what appears as the incidental, yet significant, phenomenological structures within cognitive therapy’s clinical interventions. The thesis uses the identified phenomenological structures within cognitive therapy’s treatment of emotional disorder to firstly, further develop the phenomenological description of the universalising attitude as a subset to the natural attitude which, it is argued disguises or presents itself as the ‘genuine natural attitude’. Secondly, the concept of the universalising attitude is developed further to suggest a hierarchy of attitudes within the natural attitude.

Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Researchers have stressed the importance of addressing the social/emotional needs of early childhood (EC) children, including the development of resilience; however, some U.S. school personnel focus more on academics than on these needs. When young children possess these skills, they can handle social/emotional challenges later in life. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to explore school social workers&rsquo; (SWs) perspectives about resilience in EC settings. Research questions focused on knowledge of existing programs, participants&rsquo; perceptions of the successes and challenges of working with EC students, and their recommendations to improve EC students&rsquo; education. Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s ecological systems theory and O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s and Gopnik&rsquo;s work on needs of young children informed this study. Five elementary school SWs with at least 6 years&rsquo; experience from 5 districts in the U.S. Midwest participated in 2 semistructured individual interviews. Interpretive phenomenological analysis, involving first-cycle, transition, and second cycle coding, was used to identify themes. SWs&rsquo; experiences indicated a need for a clear definition of resilience, and needs of young children, including EC programs that develop psychological resilience of children&rsquo;s thoughts and an increase in adults to promote resilience. Additional research may expand and enhance educators&rsquo; and families&rsquo; understanding of resilience and help develop research-based preventive programs and strategies to foster psychological resilience in young children. These endeavors may enhance positive social change by adding components of psychological resilience to EC programs for school personnel and students and in parent/family workshops, which may result in sound mental health practices that enable them to become productive members of society.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, The Committee on Human Development, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Psychology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the teaching practice and educational beliefs of four middle grades teachers who were identified as effective in forging relationships with their students. In this study, relational expertise is defined as the ability to create a positive connection with students, one in which students feel recognized and valued as individuals. This research answers questions concerning (a) how the teachers define teacher-student relationships, (b) how and why they use relational skills in classrooms, (c) the strategies they use for developing and maintaining relationships and (d) the outcomes of relational teaching they identify. </p><p> Data collection included interviews and classroom observations of teacher participants and the collection of documentary evidence such as teacher evaluations and photographs of classroom artifacts. The data were analyzed and the cases were compared in a search for themes and patterns. The case studies were written as narrative portraits to record the thoughts and classroom experience of the participants and to provide a detailed view of their principles in action. Their stories provide a sense of what it is like to experience the classroom operations of the participants and allow the teachers to explain the rationale for what they do. </p><p> The participant teachers care deeply about the well-being and healthy development of students and strive to provide a nurturing classroom climate that meets the students&rsquo; psychological as well as cognitive needs. Their use of immediacy behaviors and other relationship-establishing techniques was a result of their personal beliefs about effective teaching.</p>