732 research outputs found
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The Resiliency of Veteran Preschool Special Education Teachers
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the perceived factors that led to the resiliency and retention of veteran preschool special education teachers in public schools in California.
Methodology: This study utilized a phenomenological design to gain insight into the perceived factors influencing veteran preschool special education teachers’ resiliency and career decision to continue teaching in the field of special education for at least 10 years. Using snowball sampling, 12 preschool teachers employed in public schools in Solano County with at least 10 years of experience were selected to participate in the study. Qualitative data were obtained from participants using semi-structured interviews.
Findings: Participants identified four major factors as integral to their resiliency in the field: personal strategies, positive emotions, peer support, and mentoring. Furthermore, the teachers reported job satisfaction, administrative support, motivation, and prior experience and formal preparation had a significant influence on their career decision to remain in the field.
Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, four main conclusions were drawn. First, the impacts of teaching challenges can be minimized by utilizing appropriate strategies. Second, positive relationships between teachers and their peers, mentors, and administrators are needed for teachers to develop resilience. Third, intrinsic motivation to teach helps them continue teaching despite crises. Finally, prior experience and formal preparation are significant for teacher retention
Exploring Workplace Spirituality and the Benefit it has on Teams
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and understand the perception of nonprofit leaders on how spirituality in the workplace fosters a positive workplace culture.
Methodology: In this phenomenological qualitative study, data were collected using interviews of 12 nonprofit leaders. The essential data collection method for this study was in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interview questions, key informant interviews, and pilot study data interviews. After the data were collected and transcribed, the coding process began, and themes were identified.
Findings: The research on spirituality in the workplace and spiritual intelligence of nonprofit leaders has been completed. There is still a gap in the literature of quantitative studies on how spiritual intelligence informs the behaviors of nonprofit leaders. Interviews and a demographic survey were collected from the study participants. Five overarching themes and six major research findings emerged from the data analysis from the 12 nonprofit leaders.
Conclusion: Relationship building is essential to positive work culture. Developing a spiritual workplace culture is demonstrated through collaborative practices and collective unity to create harmony in achieving the mission and vision of an organization. Nonprofit leaders’ perspectives of spiritual intelligence are a self-reflective process of servicing others, which informs how contributions are made within the context of community. Employees and others are treated as individuals who have an opportunity to learn, build, and sustain relationships through meaningful and purposeful work of the organization. The leaders that tap into spiritual intelligence are empowered to enhance the organization through facilitating others to tap into their purpose in life.
Recommendations: Future studies might include a quantitative study of workplace spirituality and spiritual intelligence for nonprofit leaders locally, across the state, or nationwide. A Delphi study investigating the five overarching themes with a panel of leading experts in the field should be considered. What are their perceptions of spiritual intelligence and its contributions to a spiritual workplace? Additionally, the research should be replicated in other parts of the United States to gain more insights into spirituality in the workplace and spiritual intelligence
Leadership in Corrections: An Examination of Leadership in California Prisons
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study was to examine leadership perceptions within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), as well as determine if a statistical different existed between leaders’ self-perceptions and employees’ perception of leader.
Methodology: The study employed a quantitative approach to gather data regarding leaders’ self-perception of their leadership skills and employees’ perceptions of leaders’ skills as measured by the Transformational Leadership Skills Inventory (TLSi). A total of 142 participants from three southern California prisons completed the survey items to yield results. Research Questions 1 and 2 included descriptive statistics to determine the leaders’ self-perceived leadership skills and employees’ perceptions of their leaders’ leadership skills respectively, delineating their average scores and standard deviations for each of the 10 TLSi domains. Research Question 3, t-tests were used to determine if a difference existed between the leaders and custody employees and the leaders and the non-custody employees. Separate t-tests were conducted between both groups and across the 10 scales of the TLSi. The alpha level was set a .05 to be considered a statistically significant difference.
Findings: The findings indicated that CDCR leaders’ self-perception and employee perception of leader’s leadership skills are statistically similar; with a slightly lower rating of leaders by Non-Custody employees.
Conclusions: CDCR’s efforts need to ensure training and development is inclusive of both custody and non-custody as an inspection of the raw data showed ratings for non-custody employees ranged from 1 to 5 on the Likert scale. There were many more “1” and “2” ratings with the non-custody group than with the others indicating some outliers expressing dissatisfaction with leaders’ TLSi skills. The leader self-perception and employee perception of leaders were lowest in the areas of political intelligence and visionary leadership.
Recommendations: In order to fully capture the state of leadership within CDCR further inquiry needs to be conducted; there are countless variations of this study that could be conducted to delve deeper into the leadership of California prisons ranging from a focus on geographic location of institutions, to missions, custody levels, to a focus on the multiple layers of the organization’s hierarchy
The Pathways Taken by Former Hispanic or Latin Teenage Mothers that Achieved a Master\u27s Degree or Higher
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this heuristic phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of former Hispanic or Latin teen mothers that achieved a master’s degree or higher. Another purpose of the study was to describe the recommendations of the former teen mothers with regard to helping both present and future teen mothers accomplish these academic milestones.
Methodology: This study explored and discovered the human experience of former teen mothers to build a comprehensive understanding of the shared experience. This heuristic inquiry approach aimed to draw general meaning by revealing the emerging commonalities that were described.
Findings: The findings in this qualitative study exposed three overarching outcomes yielded from the culmination of data. The findings resulted in the explanation of the cultural shift in support systems, the experience generated a paradigm shift in the women, and garnering strength and empowerment in the number of women that experienced the phenomenon. The plausibility of the outcomes is explained as a result of the findings in the stories of the women and literature.
Conclusions: Conclusions were drawn from the indicators, themes, and advice that were identified through the qualitative data. The advice was framed around grouped themes and overall conclusions. Through the advice, the former Hispanic or Latin teen mothers sought to share words of wisdom and motivation as they outlined a pathway for others should they choose to achieve similar academic goals as pregnant teens or teen motherhood.
Recommendations: The recommendations include expanding the study to take in a long-term phenomenological study of Hispanic or Latin teen mothers as they achieve a master’s degree or beyond as well as broaden the breadth of study to focus on former Hispanic or Latin teen fathers post-graduate degree academic achievements. Further, it is recommended to magnify the study on both American Indian and Alaska Native former teen mothers that went on to earn a bachelor’s degree or beyond. In addition, it is recommended to conduct a study to evaluate the impact on communities with negative messaging verses positive messaging on teen pregnancy outcomes
Exploring the Perceptions of Parents on Parent Involvement in County Community School Students’ Academic Achievement
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand and explain how parents perceive parent engagement affects high school academic achievement within county operated community schools in Riverside County California. An additional purpose of the study was to understand and explain actions parents believe are necessary to increase parent engagement within county community schools in Riverside County.
Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study explored the perspectives of 16 parents who had students attending County Community Schools in California. The research focused on parent engagement and the actions necessary to involve parents in their children’s education. The researcher in conjunction with a thematic dissertation partner, Sandra Hernandez, created an in depth semi-structured interview consisting of eight interview questions correlated to the research questions and five demographic questions. The thematic dissertation partner helped in vetting the research question and helped to code the data collected in this research study.
Findings: Examination of phenomenological data revealed 15 themes, which led nine major findings and one unexpected finding. Major finding were: Parents want to be involved with the county community school their child attends. Communication is an important factor to increase parental involvement. Parents support their children at home. Parents want to participate in school activities. Schedule activity times that parents can attend. Parental notifications of events need to be done in a timely manner. Parents want parent education and trainings. Interviews evoke emotional responses from parents.
Conclusions: The study concludes that parents perceived that their involvement in their child’s education helps their children succeed academically. Parents want to be involved at the school site and in their child’s academic journey, but the schools do not provide opportunities for involvement.
Recommendations: Further research is recommended to explore different areas of what county community schools can do to actively engage parents to be involved at the school sites
Identifying the Leadership Skills Needed to Develop the Competencies to Lead in a Postcrisis Organization: A Delphi Study
No full textPurpose: Organizational leaders play a pivotal role in postcrisis activities. There is abundant research in the actions of leaders in a crisis; however, there is limited research regarding the leadership competencies required postcrisis, and a gap remains in knowing which leadership skills are needed postcrisis. The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the leadership skills needed to promote organizational resilience, to act with integrity, and to possess a learning orientation of organizational leaders in the postcrisis phase.
Methodology: This study used a 3-round Delphi technique to identify the leadership skills that support the possession of the competencies needed for a postcrisis leader. Panelists rated skills, previously identified in the literature, using a 5-point Likert scale. Furthermore, they provided their expert opinion on any additional leadership skills that support the possession of the competencies and any additional competencies needed for a postcrisis leader.
Findings: The participants reached consensus on the skills regarding the competencies of promoting organizational resiliency, acting with integrity, and promoting a learning orientation. The identified skills are (a) be adaptable, (b) inspire others by communicating a vision, (c) change direction while being sensitive to the need for transparency to maintain the integrity, (d) develop personal mastery, (e) embrace and enjoy learning, and (d) possess emotional intelligence.
Conclusions: Based on the literature review and the research findings, the following was concluded: (a) A leader must possess the competency of promoting organizational resilience, acting with integrity, possessing a learning orientation, and connectivity to internal and external stakeholders; (b) The newly identified skill of being supportive of change was identified in both the competency of promoting organizational resiliency and acting with integrity; and (c) Leaders need to be communicative and develop connectivity with internal and external stakeholders.
Recommendations: Additional research is recommended to validate an instrument to measure the skills a postcrisis leader possesses to support the competencies. Another study could conduct interviews with crisis management team members to further identify the competencies displayed by the crisis leader. Finally, researchers need to conduct a study to identify a correlation between effective postcrisis leadership and transformational leadership
