Date of Award
Fall 2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in School Leadership
Department
Center for Leadership & Learning
College
College of Education
Committee Chair
Dr. Christopher Trombly
Second Committee Member
Dr. Rebecca Shopfner
Third Committee Member
Dr. Andrea Martin
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. John A. Freeman
Program Director
Dr. John A. Freeman
Dean of Graduate College
Dr. Mary B. Gunter
Abstract
This exploratory study investigated the applicability of the Whole Child/Whole Learner concept to the teaching profession. Utilizing open-ended questions on a web-based questionnaire that was completed by secondary-level teachers throughout Arkansas, this pragmatic qualitative inquiry obtained information about teachers’ experiences in, and attitudes toward, the teaching profession. The constant comparative method was used to analyze participants’ responses to open-ended questions; patterns and themes that emerged through the data were then examined through the lenses of the five tenets of the Whole Child/Whole Learner approach. Of the five, ‘safe’ was the tenet that arose least frequently in participants’ responses. ‘Healthy,’ ‘engaged,’ and ‘challenged’ all emerged with roughly equal frequency. ‘Supported’ was the tenet from the Whole Child/Whole Learner framework that appeared most commonly as a need in participants’ responses to open-ended items about their experiences in the teaching profession. Given the valuable insight yielded by this exploratory study of the applicability of the Whole Child/Whole Learner framework to teachers at the secondary level, it is recommended that this study be replicated with a greater number of teachers, as well as with teachers at all grade levels.
Recommended Citation
Britt, Amanda Lea, "Meeting the Needs of Teachers as Whole Learners" (2017). Theses and Dissertations from 2017. 17.
https://orc.library.atu.edu/etds_2017/17