Hon., Trinity College Dublin, 1973 The problem addressed in the study is the low status afforded women’s knowledge in public institutions. Specifically, the purpose was to investigate the form and substance of knowledge acquired through motherhood, and mothers’ experiences of the reception of the knowledge in schools. The political aim was to promote mothers’ knowledge as deserving authoritative status. Post-modern feminist theory framed theses regarding a tension involving two areas of mothers’ knowledge -- named “authoritative knowledge” and “maternal knowledge” -- and informed the reflexive methodology employed. Participants were sixteen women teachers who were or had been mothers of schoolchildren. Each mother/teacher participated in two one and a half hour audiotaped interviews. Following the interviews, eleven of the mother/teachers met for audiotaped group discussions. The data indicated that mother/teachers take to schools a wealth of maternal knowledge acquired through both childraising and living a mother’s life. Participants claimed the knowledge is valuable to their work as teachers. They reported difficulty, however, with respect to both reception and proclamation of the knowledge in school decision-making forums. They attributed the difficulty to various causes. Participants’ talk contained key words such as “instinct” which can be diversely conceived and expressed. That the words may be readily interpreted in ways harmful to promotion of maternal knowledge was noted by the researcher through critical reflection upon her own thinking. The words, the multiplicity of concepts associated with them, and the importance of recognizing this impediment to promoting maternal knowledge, became the topic for group discussion. The findings imply that maternal knowledge could enhance the critical capabilities of frameworks which guide decision-making in educational administration; that maternal knowledge should be explained and promoted during administrator and teacher professional development; and that the notion of the tension within mother/teachers’ knowledge could be usefully applied in several areas of education research. A mismatch was revealed between many participants’ career standings and their experiences and knowledge of value to schools. This implies that when thinking about employment equity for school personnel we need to recognize that being equally qualified may not necessarily mean possessing the same qualifications. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

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Thesis advisor: Andrew Hargreaves / This exploratory case study examines the experience of twelve women teachers who taught in two state-controlled school districts that had been taken over by the state authorities due to low academic performance and operational mismanagement. The qualitative methodology of exploratory comparative case analysis allowed for the consideration of the two districts as two parts of the same case, and the foundation for future research in this field (Streb, 2010). Twelve semi-structured interviews, teacher climate survey responses, and fifty-three state government documents were analyzed using an iterative coding process (Yin, 2015, pp. 196-197; Saldaña, 2015). The analysis found that structural and cultural barriers prevented the study participants from succeeding personally and professionally. Their skills as experienced educators were under-utilized and their perspectives as women were not acknowledged. Structurally, the internal organization of the districts asked a great deal of the teachers without recognizing them as professionals or women. Culturally, their gender identities as women placed them at a disadvantage with school and district leadership. The gendered barriers were woven into the fabric of the workplace so that the women teachers were unable to have access to those with power or influence. This study lays the groundwork for larger research endeavors on women in state-controlled schools, as well as policy implications for the state control of public schools and school turnaround. This study contributes to the field by specifically bringing women teachers’ voices into the discussion of school reform and improvement. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The investigative study of female teacher leadership at the high school was undertaken to reveal women's leadership roles as they exist and to examine the potential for increasing women's voices in the educational world. The study further desired to identify support systems that could be enhanced to promote and sustain female teacher leadership development. The five ethnographic dialogues showed the prelude for leadership development rested solidly on female pedagogy, on the woman finding her voice and its possibilities in her community. All of the female leaders interviewed had professional engagements that brought them to arenas outside the classroom and their disciplines. Leadership for these female teachers meant actively taking responsibility for improvement or change that necessitated a step beyond the threshold of the familiar classroom. It meant challenging and helping students and colleagues grow and perhaps change through caring and empowerment activities. It meant knowing the community so that leadership risks were minimized. Leadership presented a composite of positive personal and professional growth opportunities. Opportunities challenged female leaders to engage their voices in professional movement and continue their commitment to their community. Female teacher leadership was strongly affected by powers above, administrators, and by attitudes from within the school setting. It was the makeup of the community though, that contributed to the timing of her development or leadership possibilities. The five women's experiences described reoccurring themes instrumental in female teacher leadership to be (a) mastery teaching skills (b) powerful teaching values and goals, (c) effective communication abilities, (d) diverse opportunities for participation, and (e) collegiality. Interviews revealed these women were searching for continuing challenges and growth. / Graduation date: 1998

The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed among perceived stressful situations in the classroom and the amount of perceived stress among female secondary classroom teachers in Indiana.The population of the study consisted of 268 female secondary classroom teachers randomly selected by computer at the Indiana Department of Education.Three instruments were used in the study. The first instrument, General Information, was used to gather demographic data pertaining to Age Group, Years of Experience, Type of School System, Population of School System, Enrollment of Secondary School, Subject Area taught, and Grade Level(s) taught. The second instrument, Perceived Stress Questionnaire, was used to indicate the amount of perceived stress experienced by respondents. The third instrument, Perceived Needs in Stress Counseling, was used to indicate the type of counseling respondents perceived needed in order to help teachers deal with stress. The Perceived Stress Questionnaire and Perceived Needs in Stress Counseling Questionnaire employed a Likert-type scale with five degrees provided from which to choose: About 10% or less of the time, About 25% of the time, About 50% of the time, About 75% of the time, and About 90% or more of the time.The data were analyzed by frequency response percentages and cross tabulation for the General Information items, Perceived Stress Questionnaire items, and for Perceived Needs in Stress Counseling items.The following findings and conclusions were based on a review of the literature as presented in the study and the results of the data collected:1. Student threats and physical attacks are major sources of stress among discipline problems for teachers.2. Administrators not supportive of teachers in conflict situations in the presence of students are a predominant stress factor.3. Students not cooperative in class are a major source of stress for responding teachers.4. Student Apathy and lack of volunteerism in class are not major sources of stress among respondents.5. Parents defending their child's misbehavior are a major source of stress among Lack of Parental Support items.6. The majority of teachers responding did not desire stress counseling to assist them in dealing with classroom stress.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to uncover the ways that women elementary school teachers negotiate their identities within the context of writer’s workshop by exploring issues of gender, literacy, and identity. The two central participants were women elementary school teachers who were involved at their Professional Development School with university partnership and were learning how to implement a writer’s workshop instructional model. This study considers how the participants’ involvement in professional development with a university faculty member shaped their identities as women and professionals. The theoretical framework is critical theory and identity theory in which literacy and identity are deeply connected (Moje & Luke, 2009). Furthermore, this study is situated in the literature exploring teachers’ roles and identities historically in order to position them today (Carter, 2002; Hoffman, 2003; Biklen, 1995). The questions this study will explore include: (a) How have the participants’ identities been affected by their involvement in the Corey Richardson Writing Collaborative? (b) How does gender mediate their professional identities? This case study used in depth interviews, document analysis, and observations to generate detailed data. Themes that were prominent in the data were gender and teaching, dealing with mandates, issues of expertise, caring, and writing as resistance. The conclusions of this study reveal that the within the context of caring professional development, teachers were able to take up writer’s workshop as a means of resisting a system that was often frustrating and oppressive. They negotiated their gendered roles as teachers in complex ways and used literacy as a way to reclaim their own power.