Western Connecticut State University
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The Effect of Mindfulness Coaching on Preservice Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Mindfulness Utilizing a Mixed-Reality Simulation Environment
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the effect of mindfulness coaching on preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and mindfulness, utilizing a mixed-reality simulation environment. Data was collected via a concurrent embedded mixed methods design. This study involved a treatment group of preservice teacher participants that received mindfulness coaching and a comparison group of preservice teacher participants that did not receive mindfulness coaching, within a mixed-reality simulation environment. Each preservice teacher participant completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale to measure mindfulness and the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale to measure self-efficacy as pretests and posttests. Participants were also interviewed. Findings were then analyzed and while there were no statistically significant quantitative results, qualitative analysis resulted in the following finding statement: Participating in a mixed-reality simulation environment influenced the teaching self-efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers and learning about mindfulness strategies while engaging in that process enabled preservice teachers to cope with in-the-moment stressors and consider ways to utilize mindfulness as classroom teachers
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF WOMEN LEADERS' GENDER FRAMES
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to explore the social construction of female leadership identities from the perspectives of women serving at the highest level of positional authority within the hierarchy of their organizations across different professions. Specifically, the researcher explored the perceptions of five females through their self-reported lived experiences of the factors that have supported and challenged them in forging leadership identities consistent with their core values and beliefs. The five female participants were from these diverse professional contexts in the private and public sectors: (a) University President of a co-educational, four-year, higher education institution, (b) College President of a co-educational, two-year, higher education institution, (c) CEO of a hospital or healthcare organization, (d) Superintendent of a K-12 public school district, and (e) Chief of Police of a municipal law enforcement agency. This study differs from others that explore the intersection between gender and leadership because of this broadened sample that included a variety of professions. Purposeful and convenience sampling procedures were utilized, together with pre-defined selection criteria, to assist in identifying participants who had experienced the phenomena being studied. Data collection tools included semi-structured interviews, field observations, and document review protocols. Data were analyzed and resulted in two findings and four themes. Finding 1 emerged as follows: Participants described their leadership identities in terms of their successes or challenges in enacting a communal orientation through which they build and maintain relationships that they perceive as critical to their ability to fulfill their purpose or calling, move the organization or community forward, navigate difficult circumstances, evaluate their effectiveness as leaders, and improve leadership capacity of themselves or others. Finding 2 developed as follows: Participants described their leadership identity as a complex blend of agency and communion which moderates their approach in making decisions, holding staff accountable, confronting barriers, expressing directives and hard truths, maintaining appropriate distance or boundaries, exercising power, and sharing credit with others in a manner which enables leaders to accomplish the greater good that is linked to mission, purpose, and objectives.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
TEACHER VOICES ON ENHANCING THEIR PRACTICE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
No full textEnhancing one’s professional practice is something that should be ongoing throughout one’s career, especially in the field of education where innovations are consistently emerging. However, educators are not necessarily aware of the fact that they can enhance that practice simply by the way in which they engage collaboratively with one another. To that end, this qualitative research study explored the ways in which K-12 teachers engage with one another through collaborative professional learning experiences. More specifically, the researcher examined the roles and shared the voices of teachers who effectively collaborated in regularly scheduled small group meetings. The perspectives of these teachers immersed in a culture of collaborative learning can help to illustrate and illuminate the essence and impact of collaborative professional growth experiences. This study used a generic qualitative research design to explore how and why collaborative practices positively influenced teacher growth. Methods of data collection included a teacher questionnaire, non-participant observation, teacher interviews, and follow-up procedures. The data analysis process allowed theoretical concepts to emerge. Results suggested that teachers motivated by their own love of learning and desire to grow enter a professional setting where they take ownership of their growth process through predictable schedules outlined with clear expectations. Teachers perceive collaborative learning group time as beneficial and as a positive professional development experience brought about because they have opportunities to actively listen, dialogue, and reflect. The results of this study suggested what factors of a collaborative professional learning model deem it to be successful, and in turn, best enhance the professional practice of educators. Ultimately, information derived from this work is hoped to serve as a guide to help aid schools in purposeful and productive teacher growth.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
Spellbound
No full textSpellbound is a 72,000-word modern teen fantasy novel told from the perspectives of both the monstrous, magical creature who’s abducted a prince, and the sixteen-year-old girl who sets out to rescue him.
Angel Ora’s summer camp experience turns from typical to terrifying when her crush, Prince Woody, goes missing. Rumor is a grotesque Uurg is behind his capture. The kingdom’s Royal Guards swoop in to investigate, but their bumbling antics make the prince’s return even more hopeless. That is, until Angel comes face-to-face with something she was told no longer exists – a magic wand. With the help of her friends, Angel uses her wits and the not-so-extinct magic to confront her world’s reemerging dark past, and discovers that sometimes, we are not so unlike the monsters we seek.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
How Eric Sloane Retold American History
No full textThis thesis seeks to prove the significance of Eric Sloane during the Cold War reconstruction of America's historical memory. Sloane's quest for identity parallels that of his country: grappling with the past to form narratives. He was almost universally praised, frustrating some academics. Therefore, this thesis also analyzes the split between professional and popular history through the lens of Sloane's extensive work. It reveals his shortcomings but also the continued usefulness of his contributions. It explains how a storyteller without professional training retold American history, leaving behind enduring narratives that last to this day.Master of Arts (MA)Histor
Witches, Wolves, and Wilderness: Notions of Purity and Righteous Domination in Early America
No full textAn examination of the ideological, theological, and archetypal forces behind early New England colonists' conception of America as the potential for a "New Canaan", an idealized and restocked version of the overburdened, at-capacity, denuded agrarian Europe they left behind but which continued to shape their perceptions of their ongoing experience. In particular, their conception of an omnipotent, judgmental, white, male anthropomorphized God would guide their notions of their own sense of entitlement and supremacy in these new lands inhabited by non-white people and wild non humans. This vision would affect nearly all early American practices and attitudes relating to 'New' World flora, fauna, conceptions of wilderness, and the disintegration of indigenous societies, and it would influence the shape taken by emerging extraction and subsistence economies. In addition, the transmission of European cultural elements such as witch hysteria and an emerging proto capitalism of colonial resource commodification to New England was emblematic of this overarching worldview. The subordination or elimination of animals, plants, and whole ecosystems by colonists often mirrored constructed human social and gender subordination hierarchies and was often powered by compulsive acquisitive proto-capitalist behavior from the subsistence level to the owner classHistor
VETERAN TEACHERS WHO THRIVE AMID THE CHALLENGE AND CHANGE OF THE MODERN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: UNDERSTANDING THEIR JOURNEY
No full textThis qualitative study was designed to explore how experienced teachers who love their work, find value in it, and contribute positively to the work environment sustain their positive mindset in the face of challenge and change in America’s public schools. Since the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and subsequent educational reform measures, schools have turned increasingly to accountability measures around student testing, teacher evaluations, and other perceived metrics of performance. Since the implementation of NCLB, there has been an increase in teachers leaving the classroom due in part to these stressors. This phenomenon has been well documented in the research. Less understood is how and why some teachers not only stay, but thrive in challenging circumstances. This study applies grounded theory methodology to probe how thriving veteran teachers avoid pitfalls such as burnout and demoralization, and instead evolve and grow. All data were collected prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. In-depth interviews with a nominated sample of ten thriving public school teachers in two states in the Northeast were conducted. Two-cycle coding and analytic memos provided a platform for data analysis, which ultimately led to three assertions. These assertions are that job fit plays a pivotal role in teachers’ ability to thrive over time. Teachers apply intrinsic motivation and signature strengths to self-actualize on the job. In this dynamic, challenge and change are essential for growth toward the highest level of human potentiality, transcendence.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
Firefly
No full textFirefly is an 83,000-word strong metaphysical story that takes place on two different worlds and in two different times. The story unfolds from two points of view: Maya Lee the human protagonist, and Ben, the alien main character. Introverted Maya Lee has an ability to command her thoughts to heal her wounds but doesn’t know why. At night, her consciousness travels into another dimension where her emotional experiences come to her in form of colors, which she paints. These emotions guide her art, and when the finished painting resembles places and objects, Maya cannot relate to them. She also suffers from social anxiety. Maya works for Palmieri, the owner of an anti-viral drug company, whom she respects and fears at the same time. She meets Gianni, Palmieri’s supplier, who quickly disarms her and wins her heart. In the face of a looming WWIII, Maya learns her boss’s plans to kill millions with the drug supplied by Gianni’s company. She also finds out that Palmieri and Gianni have been watching her for a long time. What she doesn’t know is that Ben, an alien from the dimension that Maya has been visiting in her sleep, has been watching her too. It is through Ben’s point of view that we understand the life and characters of the other dimensions. In a way, Ben is a witness to the unfolding of Maya’s identity. Firefly explores Maya’s and Ben’s parallel past that sends them on a search on two different worlds. Reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and The Martian by Andy Weir, the two characters, wary of their surroundings, find home wherever they find hope, even if only temporary. Maya’s journey into self-discovery is deeply entrenched with other characters: Gianni a medical drug-maker with a secret past that tells the story about Maya’s life and death; Palmieri, under whose commanding presence Maya shrinks, but who also is fiercely protective of her. When the war becomes imminent and bombs drop within the US borders, Maya is faced with a choice: Live and be killed. Or die and live forever.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
Shadow Selves: A COLLECTION OF SHORT HORROR STORIES
No full textHorror stories are amongst the oldest forms of entertainment. The horror genre has focused on death, evil, demons, and life. The genre plays with the darker side of our psyches—the shadow self—and creates monsters, witches, creatures, ghosts, and people that awaken those forbidden parts. “Shadow Selves: A Collection of Short Horror Stories” subjects the reader to the side of their personality that they don’t want to admit they have. This collection of short stories explores different avenues of the typical horror tropes, while keeping true to the tradition of telling terrifying tales.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
No full textABSTRACT
Typical show business stories usually default to a fiery exposé of debauchery and bacchanalian excess designed to sell in those twirling display carousels at airport newsstands. But what about the untold backstage accounts of real-life exploits behind the scenes with jammed scenery, dead microphones, out-of-service bathrooms, and the pleasure of dealing with the wildly unconventional demands of show people? And what if the story is told from the perspective of a simple, implacable facilitator having had a first-hand experience in every situation? What was it within my past that helped me to succeed in this dysfunctional business? I answer these questions in this memoir, which provides a humorous, engaging account of how a career in the theatre evolved from simple expectations. The chance opportunity to play in a theatrical sandbox, and the subsequent silliness of it all, is featured in this work.
Cultural repercussions touch upon the path to my theatrical inclinations. Growing up in an environment of mid-century absolutes where success was measured within blue-collar options, the idea of making a living as a theatrical seemed highly unlikely. My story follows that journey by describing my formative years within a midcentury culture and its attendant assumptions and traditions. Indications of the inevitable result of a professional theatrical career are revealed by introducing a smorgasbord of familial, historical, and histrionic personalities. I discover there is a unique relationship between the craggy fruit-and-vegetable seller offering arias in the streets of old Brooklyn and the fragile, white-gloved patron of any art that will assuage their need for social relevance. I reflect on the uncomfortable similarity of a reactionary and impulsive CEO and the current state of political affairs. I take an unconventional view of the feminine mystique of an iconic dance troupe in the Rockettes and bring them to a 21st-century relevance with a feminist eye. All this is done with a self-deprecating, humorous approach that is charmingly irresistible and is constructed to evoke hearty laughter when read.
The central theme revolves around events that initiate this rollercoaster journey of a profession in theatrical arts, one that I never imagined could happen. I utilized a chronologically based structure that weaves ancestral history with contemporary references from my adolescence through my adulthood. I apply a humorous tone to create a self-effacing statement that embraces the reader with wit, comedy, and wisdom. Recurring references that keep returning in the story maintain a connection to personal history and resolve in reflective anecdotes that keep the narrative amusing and entertaining to the reader. The story transcends the superstar clickbait. Instead, it recalls celebrity encounters, illustrating the celebrities’ human traits and how they adjust to life’s challenges just like we do. It is a humorous reveal of unforgivable conceit becoming irrevocable folly.
The working title reflects the core of the narrative central to my adult work life. This is a book about embracing an unorthodox career and finding a comfortable seat from which to view the journey through one’s experiences.
The memoir is inspired by the innocent wisdom of Annie Dillard, the inventive quirkiness of James Thurber, the frank openness of Nora Ephron, and the quintessential humility of Stephen Tobolosky. The work suggests a sense of self-determination in a world insistent upon victimization. The story evokes a sense of sprezzatura, otherwise known as the art of effortless mastery, where stress and angst take a very far back seat to the enjoyment of life. It is an invitation to sit back and enjoy the show.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces