Exploration into teacher competency of various types has gone on for quite some time. An untapped resource regarding teacher expertise is that of the students' perceptions of teacher expertise, particularly the ability of students to identify the types of behaviors that expert and non-expert teachers exhibit in the classroom. The frequency and variety of expert behaviors in the high school classroom were investigated in this study. High school teachers (n = 25) were observed during regular class periods using the Teacher Behavior Checklist, a checklist of behaviors developed for this study from discussions with high school students, teachers, administrators, and existing teacher competency literature. Results suggest discrimination of expert and non-expert teachers similar to Berliner (2001). Agreement among students' perception of expertise, classroom observations, and the literature suggest that high school students are capable of accurately identifying expert and non-expert behaviors of teachers. Further, some data suggest that expert teachers draw from a narrower behavioral scheme and exhibit expert designated behaviors more often than do their non-expert colleagues. This study highlights the need to close the evaluative loop through the utilization of student perception. / Educational Psychology

Background New graduate nurses face many workplace-related challenges in their first year of practice, which contributes to physical and mental strains. As a result, high levels of occupational stress are experienced among newly graduated nurses, leading them to doubt their willingness to continue in nursing. Furthermore, occupational stress is proven to interfere with both personal and professional risk factors, making it an important subject to highlight. Aim The overall purpose of this study was to describe newly graduated nurses’ experience of occupational stress during their first working-year. Method This literature study is based on twelve qualitative scientific articles, which has been analysed and assessed through a five-step model. Results The most frequently described state was feeling unprepared or unable to meet the various requirements of their profession. Challenges were associated with a knowledge gap between theory and practice, an overwhelming reality, leadership, responsibilities and difficulties adapting. There were also connections between the prevalence of long-term stress and early career burnout or turnover. Four main themes emerged from the results; A demanding work environment; To be on your own; Inability to relax; After adversity comes success. Conclusion New graduate nurses experience a mismatch between the external expectations of them as nurses and their own perception of their ability to perform accordingly. As they develop into professionals in their field, much support is needed. This increases the chances of them succeeding in fighting through their stressful challenges and remain sustainably in their positions.

A substantial amount of research exists and was reviewed on why teachers leave the teaching profession and/or why they leave one school to teach at another school. Significantly less research exists on why teachers remain in an urban school and what they view as being the essential pieces of teacher induction. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the body of knowledge by identifying the key pieces of induction that influence teachers, with three or less years of experience in an urban school, to remain teachers in their school. A case study design was utilized in this research in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what these teachers view as being the essential pieces of induction. In response to the larger problem stated here, I have organized my dissertation around three separate, but related manuscripts: 1. The first manuscript is a literature review on the essential pieces of comprehensive induction focusing on urban settings and the role that administrators play in novice urban teacher retention. The essential pieces of induction were identified through the literature as being effective administration, mentoring, formative evaluation, empowerment, and professional development. 2. The second manuscript is an exploration into the need for school-university partnerships through the results of a questionnaire on a one time professional development held at the university. The questionnaire results demonstrated the novice urban teachers' beliefs that professional development positively impacted their instructional practices, yet did not report that professional development would have a positive influence on their students' standardized test scores. 3. The third manuscript is a case study of Brookstay Elementary, an urban school successfully retaining novice urban teachers. This case study gives specific examples of how the essential pieces of comprehensive induction are seen through the eyes of novice urban teachers as well as provides evidence for the importance of building a positive school culture in order to retain novice urban teachers.

Current federal reforms require a highly-qualified teacher in every classroom to promote higher levels of student performance. In an attempt to provide a sufficient and sustainable number of highly qualified teachers in the workforce, alternative certification training programs have come alongside traditional college of education training programs. Proponents of alternative certification programs contend the process of on-the-job training will potentially address the problem of teacher shortages. However, opponents see these programs as an inadequate training process with future ramification for both teachers and students. As more and more classroom teachers are choosing alternative certification routes, there is growing uncertainty as to whether or not this is an effective way to train teachers. There is a substantial body of research that indicates a teacher's self efficacy beliefs can be an indicator of his or her performance in the classroom. Evidence demonstrates a relationship between teachers' beliefs about their personal ability to affect students' achievement and the outcomes of both the teachers' and the students' efforts (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2007). By identifying strengths and weaknesses in self-efficacy beliefs, it is possible to provide interventions such as professional development or peer mentoring to increase an individual's sense of efficacy, which could then improve his or her teaching performance, and ultimately improve student achievement. The purpose of this research study was to identify and describe the differences between (1) the self-efficacy beliefs of teachers from traditional college of education programs and from alternative certification programs in order to identify patterns or correlations between type of training and teachers' sense of efficacy, and (2) the self efficacy beliefs of novice, experienced, and expert teachers in order to determine patterns or correlations between years of experience and teachers' sense of efficacy. This research study investigated the self-efficacy beliefs of 125 high school teachers in Brevard County, Florida, with either college of education training or alternative certification training and with either novice, experienced, or expert classroom teaching experience. The first part of the study analyzed teachers' responses to the 24 items on Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale; the second part analyzed 6 researcher-designed items referring to teacher training programs and personal classroom experience. The three subscales that directed the items on the questionnaire were Efficacy for Student Engagement, Efficacy for Instructional Strategies, and Efficacy for Classroom Management. Factor analyses indicated 21 of the 24 items from the current research study loaded on the same three factors identified on the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale. The 6 items created specifically for this study loaded into two factors identified appropriately as training program and classroom experience. A reliability analysis resulted in a total alpha coefficient of .9271 for the 24 items on the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale for the 125 participants in the current research study which is consistent with an alpha of .94 in previous studies using the same scale. A total alpha coefficient of .6973 was determined for the 6 researcher-designed items. Findings from the t-tests and ANOVAs indicated that there was no relationship between self-efficacy beliefs of college of education trained teachers and alternative certification trained teachers; few relationships between novice, experienced, and expert teachers; and few interaction effects between type of teacher training and number of years of classroom experience. While the results of the study did not reveal statistically significant differences in the teacher groups, the teachers' responses and comments indicated personal classroom experiences created higher levels of self-efficacy than teacher training programs. Contrary to the researcher's expectations and conventional wisdom, both alternative certification teachers and novice teachers perceived themselves to be efficacious in the classroom. One possible explanation for the failure to reach statistically significant differences in the type of training and years of experience variables is that there simply are not distinct differences. Generally teachers with alternative certification training are immersed in programs that provide on-the-job training and support from a mentor, and as experts in their field of study, they exhibit self-assurance in their classroom behaviors. Commonly novices enter teaching with high expectations and they bring innovative practices and a fresh outlook to the classroom. Another possible explanation for the failure to reach statistically significant differences is the over-representation of some groups which could possibly have skewed the results. From the group of 125 participants, 86 teachers had college of education training while only 39 had alternative certification training. There were 79 expert teachers with ten or more years of experience, 35 experienced teachers with four to nine years, and only 11 novice teachers with three or less years. While the results of the research study did not offer statistically significant differences in the groups of teachers, there is much practical significance to be gained for district and school-level personnel in planning professional development opportunities. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses in teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, professional development and peer support can be provided to address the unique needs of each teacher group. Recommendations were made for a synthesis of current practices from both college of education programs and alternative certification programs: a series of half-day internship experiences with relevant content coursework could be combined with on-the-job experience and mentoring support based on current alternative certification programs. This research study lacks generalizability, so further research should include middle school and elementary teachers, and teachers from other counties and states. Because teachers' self-efficacy beliefs are personal and not necessarily reflective of actual practice, an investigation of the relationship between perceived self-efficacy beliefs and observed classroom effectiveness should be investigated.

This mixed-methods study sought to examine the impact of learning the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model on novice therapists' self-of-the-therapist work. Criterion sampling was used to recruit participants enrolled in an IFS graduate course in Virginia Tech's Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Program. Participants completed three sets of questionnaires (Self-Compassion Scale, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, and Professional Quality of Life Scale V. 5) both before and after completing the course. Twelve of the 23 participants volunteered to contribute to the qualitative portion of this study in semi-structured focus groups or individual interviews. The qualitative data were analyzed using grounded theory to assist in building theory for whether and how IFS can build awareness of internal process and increased self-compassion in novice therapists, therefore contributing to their self-of-the-therapist work. The quantitative data reported an increase in Self-Kindness, Common Humanity, Mindfulness, ability to Describe one's experience, ability to Act with Awareness, and the ability to be Nonjudgmental and Nonreactive of one's experience after participants completed the IFS course. The quantitative data reported a decrease in participants' Self-Judgment, Over-identification, and Secondary Traumatic Stress after completing the IFS course. The qualitative data supported these findings. The themes that emerged for the qualitative data were an increase in Self-Leadership, Improved Relationships, and an increase in Self-Compassion. Overall, participants reported gaining greater awareness of their internal process and increasing their ability to be self-compassionate, which they report impacted and contributed to their self-of-the-therapist work. Limitations, clinical and training implications, and future directions for research are discussed. / Master of Science

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A gap exists in the literature exploring the burnout and self-care experiences of novice psychotherapists, despite their greater susceptibility to burnout. The aim of the present study was to begin filling the gap by exploring the lived experiences of burnout among novice psychotherapists and the self-care strategies they employed to combat burnout. Three research questions guided this exploration: (1) How do novice psychotherapists experience burnout? (2) What strategies do novice psychotherapists use to overcome their burnout? (3) How has novice psychotherapists’ self-care strategies changed as a result of experiencing burnout? Four novice psychotherapists were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to gain an insight into their experiences. Using an inductive approach to Thematic Analysis, six main themes, thirteen categories and twenty-eight codes emerged. The six themes were the following: (1) The experience of burnout, which was divided into three categories and included nine codes (2) The strategies employed to combat burnout, which was divided into two categories and included seven codes (3) The meaning of self-care, which was divided into two categories and included three codes (4) Ethical considerations, which was divided into three categories and included three codes (5) Recommendations, which was divided into two categories and included five codes and (6) Looking ahead, which was divided into one category and included one code. Burnout is a debilitating experience that impact personal life, client care, and society. Discussion includes implications for novice psychotherapists, pedagogy and practice, and society.

No description available.

The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future teachers to enact culturally responsive pedagogy (Villegas and Lucas, 2002). Over the past two decades, various scholars have studied the perceptions and dispositions of teachers in regard to topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from the conceptualization to the implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study employs a qualitative approach to examining one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive pedagogy and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher took on the role of a participant-observer to engage in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, analytic memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive pedagogy during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate culturally responsive theory into practice. Longitudinal studies which begin in teacher education and follow participants into their first year of teaching are needed to contribute further insight regarding the challenges faced by, and needs of, novice teachers who attempt to teach in culturally responsive ways. / Doctor of Philosophy / The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future educators to teach in ways that are responsive to the needs of their culturally diverse students. Over the past two decades, more research has been conducted on topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from their understanding to their implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study examines one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive teaching and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher conducted in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive teaching during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate the concepts of culturally responsive teaching into practice.

Teachers encounter numerous challenges within their first years of teaching. More support needs to be provided to assist novice teachers with navigating challenges that have been persistent in the literature on novice teachers. This study considered how engaging in guided reflective inquiry could support novice teachers' abilities to notice and respond to the challenges they encounter. In particular, this study explored the different identities from which novice teachers can draw inspiration to understand how they may support or constrain the process of responding to challenges. Participating in guided reflective inquiry encouraged novice teachers to explore their responses to individual "wobble moments" (Fecho, 2011) and view those uncertainties as moments of growth. The theories of dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981) and dialogical self theory (Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010) provided a lens through which meanings were created from the generated data. This study focused on six novice teachers within their first three years of full-time teaching and implemented elements of transactional analysis (Stewart, 2011) to analyze the narratives, memos, reflections, and interview discussions generated from the participant and researcher. The ways in which novice teachers noticed the challenges they encountered, used the concept of wobble to engage in dialogue with those challenges, and considered how the exploration of one's identity supported or constrained that process were examined in this study. Three generated understandings indexed the importance of enacting approaches to teacher induction that better support novice teachers: (1) challenges encountered by the participants aligned with persistent struggles that have been well-documented in the literature on teacher challenges, (2) participant responses to wobble moments involved a two-step process of an initial reaction and a decided-upon action, and (3) participant developing teacher identities were influenced by numerous aspects of their dialogical self. The implications of this study point to the need to enact approaches to teacher induction that use guided reflective inquiry as an adaptable structure to support novice teachers' abilities to bring their identities into dialogue with the tensions from challenges they experience in their individual teaching contexts. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to examine ways in which novice teachers can be better supported through the challenges that are often within the first years of teaching. This study employed the theoretical frameworks of dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981) and dialogical self theory (Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010) to consider how engaging in guided reflective inquiry could support a novice teacher's abilities to notice and respond to the challenges encountered. An in-depth exploration of the novice teacher's identity supported the process of examining influences on their responses to challenges. Six teachers participated in this study after meeting the criteria of being employed as an English or Language Arts teacher, teaching students within secondary 6th-12th grades, and being within their first three years of full-time teaching. The study involved three stages: an intake interview, three rounds per participant of submitting a wobble narrative and then discussing the wobble moment via Zoom, and a final reflection and interview. Transactional analysis (Stewart, 2011) assisted in the process of coding and analyzing the data to develop three generated understandings: (1) challenges encountered by the participants aligned with persistent struggles that have been well-documented in the literature on teacher challenges, (2) participant responses to wobble moments involved a two-step process of an initial reaction and a decided-upon action, and (3) participant developing teacher identities were influenced by numerous aspects of their dialogical selves. The implications of the understandings promote the necessity for teacher induction to implement guided reflective inquiry as a way to better support novice teachers through the challenges they encounter.