The thesis is an exploratory and descriptive study focusing on the emotional dimensions of collegial relationships in a primary school. The research is timely given the current pressures to develop cultures of collaboration and shared leadership in schools today. The study concentrates on the non-classroom work of teachers and investigates three particular areas of school life: the collegial practices of staff; the emotional milieu of teachers' work; and the contributions of members towards an emotionally healthy staff community. An interpretive tradition has been used in conducting the research, thus giving voice to the perceptions of research participants about their work. The research was conducted as an ethnographic case study. Data were gathered largely through participant observation and interviews. The researcher visited the school on a regular basis through the course of one school year, averaging over one day per week working in the school. Eighteen staff members were formally interviewed, the principal and assistant principal on several occasions. Extensive fieldnotes and interview transcripts were created and, aided by NVivo, a computer package for the analysis of non-statistical data, data were broken down into categories and resynthesised to bring to life a picture of the lived reality of collegiality for staff members in a primary school. The study adds to new knowledge in several important ways. First, it allows for a reconceptualisation of teachers' work. It shows how many different practices contribute to a collegial culture within a primary school and demonstrates how the social and emotional dimensions of collegiality are significant in the development of professional relationships. Second, the study develops an understanding of emotional labour for school personnel and contributes importantly to a broader picture of how emotional labour can be practiced, particularly for the sake of collegiality. It is posited that different kinds of emotional labour exist within the school setting, and that emotional labour in schools may be different from that in some other service organisations. The study explores bounded emotionality as a cultural practice among staff, suggesting that it allows expression of emotions about classroom work while at the same time constrains negative emotional displays so as to build and maintain community. The study suggests that the principles of bounded emotionality, as they operate within the primary school, present both benefits and burdens for a collegial staff, but may encourage an emotionally healthy workplace.

Teacher migration occurs frequently in public schools across the United States. As teachers transition and move to new schools, this can have implications for student achievement (Adnot, Dee, Katz, & Wyckoff, 2017; Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013), school/family relationships (Simon & Johnson, 2015), and school administrators (Ingersoll, 2003b). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to better understand the experiences that led teachers to voluntarily migrate to different schools within their district. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Public district documents were evaluated to better understand specific policies and/or restrictions on migrating teachers. All data was compiled and categorized into four major themes: 1) school characteristics, 2) school-based relationships, 3) professional atmosphere, and 4) leader support. While this study shows that there was no essence to the phenomena of teacher migration, it does make light of the fact that extremely negative relationships with either teaching colleagues or the school principal were important considerations in teacher’s voluntary, intra-district migration decision.

The objective for this program of research was to retrospectively, narratively, and autobiographically examine how my professional identity shifted when I moved from the secret, safe space of my own classrooms to shared spaces with other teachers as a newly appointed Differentiated Instruction Facilitator. In education today, teachers increasingly share their classroom spaces with other professionals and often the shifts in identity of the people sharing spaces are not examined. In this inquiry, I examine my own identity by viewing the metaphorical dance floor of the Differentiated Instruction Project from both my position on the dance floor and from the balcony above. I inquire into the nature of my dancing relationships with many partners over two years on my middle and secondary school landscape and how these relationships changed how I understood myself as a teacher and as a facilitator. I look at the differentiated philosophy I was expected to deliver and the knowledge my colleagues brought into our time together and how these two knowledge realms interacted and shifted my own knowledge and, in turn, my relationships with my teacher partners and their students.<p> My professional identity within the Differentiated Instruction Project shifted often. In the beginning, I attempted to integrate voices of the conduit and their system and sacred stories with my own personal practical knowledge. In this inquiry, I explore the relationship between the conduit and my work inside classroom spaces. I inquire into the effect of stories on my own personal practical knowledge and the knowledge of my colleagues and their students. I examine the ways in which many dancers were positioned on my educational dance floor and the ways in which these voices shaped the voice of my identity. Finally, I imagine possibilities for living and reliving and then telling and retelling stories of shifting identities within shared spaces.

The objective for this program of research was to retrospectively, narratively, and autobiographically examine how my professional identity shifted when I moved from the secret, safe space of my own classrooms to shared spaces with other teachers as a newly appointed Differentiated Instruction Facilitator. In education today, teachers increasingly share their classroom spaces with other professionals and often the shifts in identity of the people sharing spaces are not examined. In this inquiry, I examine my own identity by viewing the metaphorical dance floor of the Differentiated Instruction Project from both my position on the dance floor and from the balcony above. I inquire into the nature of my dancing relationships with many partners over two years on my middle and secondary school landscape and how these relationships changed how I understood myself as a teacher and as a facilitator. I look at the differentiated philosophy I was expected to deliver and the knowledge my colleagues brought into our time together and how these two knowledge realms interacted and shifted my own knowledge and, in turn, my relationships with my teacher partners and their students.<p> My professional identity within the Differentiated Instruction Project shifted often. In the beginning, I attempted to integrate voices of the conduit and their system and sacred stories with my own personal practical knowledge. In this inquiry, I explore the relationship between the conduit and my work inside classroom spaces. I inquire into the effect of stories on my own personal practical knowledge and the knowledge of my colleagues and their students. I examine the ways in which many dancers were positioned on my educational dance floor and the ways in which these voices shaped the voice of my identity. Finally, I imagine possibilities for living and reliving and then telling and retelling stories of shifting identities within shared spaces.

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative study was to examine the stories of public elementary school teachers who hold doctorates and to discover what these stories tell about their understanding of education within the context of public schools. Specifically, investigation centered on reasons teachers in this group pursued doctorates. This study also examined the ways in which they describe their role as educators within the public school system; the ways in which they view their relationships with public school colleagues; and the ways in which the doctoral experience has influenced their beliefs about teaching, public schooling, and education. Participants included seven California elementary public school teachers who took part in two tape recorded interviews and contributed one story from their professional experience and/or a personal reflection on the interview process. Analysis of the data involved restorying the participants' stories, identifying segments of information, labeling the segments with codes that describe their meaning, grouping the codes into themes, and identifying examples from the data that supported the themes. Six themes emerged from the collected data: learning, connection and collaboration, conflict, leadership, satisfaction, and respect . The participants described their various learning experiences, how they connect and collaborate with others, the ways in which they experience conflict, the contexts in which they exhibit leadership skills, the circumstances that have brought about personal satisfaction, and the ways in which they have observed and experienced respect. Results revealed that the teachers pursued a doctorate in order to broaden their knowledge base and educational experience and that the doctoral experience has given them a broader perspective of education. They have assumed a leadership role within the public school system, and although they acknowledged that they have a different viewpoint of education and schooling than their colleagues, they see those with whom they work as valuable members of the school community. Implications from the results focused on the importance of change within the learning process and the responsibility of leadership that comes with advanced knowledge and experience.