Date of Award

11-1-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.

College

College of Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Nicholas J. Markette, Ed.D.

Second Advisor

Brianna Parsons, Ed.D.

Third Advisor

Yvette Ghormley, Ph.D.

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of K-12 public school teachers who have implemented multiple initiatives in a Wyoming school district. This study sought to answer two research questions: (1) How do K-12 public school teachers describe their lived experience with implementing multiple initiatives? (2) How does the lived experience of K-12 public school teachers implementing multiple initiatives help to understand whether teachers are experiencing initiative fatigue? A descriptive phenomenological design was used to investigate to experience of 12 K-12 teachers in a southwest Wyoming public school district who experience multiple initiative implementations. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the steps in Giorgi’s (2009) descriptive phenomenological method. After transcription of each interview, the meaning units were abstracted and turned in to themes utilizing In Vivo coding and thematic analysis. This process produced four categories, which described the participants’ experience: implementation process, impacts and effects, perceived problems, and professional growth. This structure depicted an experience consisting of waves of initiatives or overlapping initiatives. Within this environment, teachers felt the impact on their classroom practices, their professional selves, their emotional state, and their students. Despite some professional growth, the 12 participants conveyed a mostly negative experience. The results of this study can assist future educational leaders in understanding change from the teachers’ perspective in order to gain positive outcomes for reforms.

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