The Lived Experience of a Beginning Teacher

311 Pages·2013·1.24 MB·English

by  Nathan Frank

ABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BEGINNING
TEACHERS DEFINING THEIR PEDAGOGICAL WAY
OF BEING
Nathan Frank, Doctor of Philosophy
2013

Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine H. Hultgren
Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and
Leadership

This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experience of
beginning teachers defining their pedagogical way of being. Many beginning teachers
have found frustration and disillusionment during their first year in the classroom,
leading to high levels of attrition. Those beginning teachers who remain in the classroom
may develop a way of being that opposes how they are as an individual and that pulls
them further from the students in their care. How do the individuals who experience this
phenomenon make meaning of that experience? What insights about the preparation and
support of beginning teachers can be drawn from these experiences?
This research is conducted in the tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology,
grounded in the work of philosophers such as Heidegger (1962), Gadamer (2006/1975),
and Merleau-Ponty (1962). Drawing from these philosophers, van Manen (1997)
provides a detailed process used to conduct this form of research. This methodology
serves to uncover the essences of this phenomenon, eliciting lived experience through
hermeneutic conversation.
To uncover the nature of the lived experience of beginning teachers defining their
pedagogical way of being, six participants were recruited from urban, suburban, and rural
secondary public schools in a south central county in Pennsylvania. The
phenomenological text from this study not only reiterates the often noted “challenges”
inherent in the first year experience, but also identifies a language of beginning. I seek to
understand this language by connecting it to the three Buddhist ways of being, which
guides my questioning of the “basics” of the beginning teaching experience, offering a
new way of being in the flowing language of becoming.
The experiences shared by the participants in this study uncovered many insights
that may assist those charged with the care of beginning teachers during the periods of
pre-service “formation” and in-service “orientation.” I suggest the importance of
“reflective conversations” to elicit the language of beginning, facilitated by a caring
mentor. As the languages of “blockheadedness” and “splitheadedness” emerge, varying
supports may be implemented to permit reflection and growth.
THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BEGINNING TEACHERS DEFINING THEIR
PEDAGOGICAL WAY OF BEING

By

Nathan Frank

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park in fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2013

Advisory Committee:

Dr. Francine H. Hultgren, Chair and Advisor
Dr. Steven Selden
Dr. Linda Valli
Dr. Wayne Slater
Dr. Jennifer Turner
© Copyright by

Nathan Frank

2013
DEDICATION

To my selfless wife, Emily, the first Dr. in our family. You inspire me each day to be a
better husband, father, educator, and person.

To my children, Joshua, Grace, and Madelyn, blessings from above who have brought a
meaning and purpose to my life. You are with me each moment as I seek to care more
thoughtfully for the children of the others in my community.

To my parents, Paul and Ruth. For 37 years you have ministered to my growth as a
person and taught me the transformative power of education and public service.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My advisor and mentor, Dr. Hultgren, for seeing beyond my low reading and math scores
when she first welcomed me to the University of Maryland family. Thank you for your
“teaching in the margins,” from suggested readings, to split infinitives, to incorrect APA
citations, to profound questioning. For your guidance and care, I am grateful.

My professor and committee member, Dr. Selden, who inspired me in five courses of
curriculum studies. I was invigorated by the path you created through experimental
courses of study, and I was challenged each day to serve those too often marginalized by
our free and public education system.

My committee members, Dr. Valli, Dr. Turner, and Dr. Slater, for agreeing to join me on
this journey to understanding. The light of questioning and guidance that you shined
brought clarity through an often murky terrain.

To my educational dwelling place of fifteen years, for not only paying for this first class
experience, but also for employing such exemplary supervisors, including Dr. Lombardo,
Dr. Renaut, and Dr. Cugliari. Your leadership is greatly appreciated.

To the exceptional participants who joined me in this journey, as we together sought
meaning in this first year pedagogical experience. You gave so much of yourselves
during our brief time together, and for that, I am forever indebted.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER 1 TURNING TO THE PHENOMENON…….……………… 1
A Teacher Emerges……………………………………….……….……………… 1
The Educator in Society…………………………………………………. 1
The Dream Profession…………………….………..……….…………… 3
A Time of Great Change……………………………..……….……….. 6
The Beginning Teacher: A River Forms…………………………. 9
The Call of the Sea…………………….…………………… ……. 11
Lived Experience………………………………………………….. 15
The First Year: Water Cutting Through Rock……………………….......... 16
Empowered Educator……………………………………………… 16
The Threatening Educational Environment………………………. 19
The Effective Educator……………………………………………. 22
Survival…………..………………………………………………… 24
Pedagogy…………………….…………………………..………… 26
The Journey to Becoming………………………………………………...... 30
In the Beginning………………………………………….………… 30
The Language of Change……………………………………...…… 32
A Home Within Myself……………………………………………. 35

CHAPTER 2 EXISTENTIAL INVESTIGATION……………………. 39
Lived Body: The Corporality of Pedagogy………………………………. 40
In the Presence of Others…………………………………………. 40
Pedagogical Artistry………………………………………………. 42
A Space Between Art and Science………………………………… 44
To Be or Not To Be: Teacher as Actor…………………………… 49
Lived Space: Thriving in a Desert, a Mountain, or a Gulf………………… 52
A Space to Grow………………………………………..………… 52
Isolation…………………………………………………………… 52
A Positive Space………………………………………………….. 54
Teacher Training…………………………………………………… 57
The Language of Training…………………………………………. 60
Lived Human Relations: Shared Light…….………………………………. 63
Growth to Benefit All…………………………………………….. 63
Guidance and Support…………………………………………….. 67
Who is the Teacher?…………………………………………………........ 71
Lived Time: The Journey from Beginning to Ending................................... 73
Time to Grow……….…………………………………………….. 74
Time to Develop…………………………………………………………. 76

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CHAPTER 3 PHILOSOPHICAL GROUNDING……………………………. 79

Finding a Home in Hermeneutic Phenomenology………………………… 79
What I Had Been Waiting For……………………………………... 79
The Essence of the Things Themselves…..………………………... 80
The Beginning Teacher Flowing Toward Being….……………….. 84
The Essence of Rivers, the Essence of Teachers…...……................ 85
The Flow of Time…...……………………………………………………... 88
The Presentation of Being…………………………………………. 89
Sartre’s Existential Being and Gadamer’s Bildung.……………….. 91
Care………………………………………………………………… 92
From Becoming to Being………………………………………….. 95
The Dwelling Space of the School House………………………………… 97
Gestell……………..………………………………………………. 97
Pedagogical Tact…….…………………………………………….. 99
The Art-ful Presentation of Being…………………………………. 100
The Artistry of Perception…………………………………………. 103
Pedagogical Experience……………………………………………. 104
The Hermeneutic Circle……………………………………………. 106
Captivated by a Question………………………………………….. 110
Staying on the Illuminated Path…………………………………………… 110
Turning Toward the Phenomenon………………………………… 111
Investigating Lived Experience: Process of Engagement …………. 113
The Beginning Teachers Emerge………………………………….. 115
Individual Conversations………………….………………………. 122
Thematic Reflection: The Teacher Researcher ……………………. 126
The Never-ending Process of Writing and Rewriting…………….. 128
A Pedagogue and a Researcher Seeking Understanding…... …….. 129
Seeking Balance………………………….………………… ……... 130

CHAPTER 4 FINDING FLOW DURING THE FIRST YEAR……..…… 133
Seeking Authenticity in a New Place……………………………………… 133
The Teacher In-Between…………………………………………… 133
Place-Panic………………………………………………… 135
The First Place-“Meant”…………………………………… 138
Encountering Others, Encountering Self.………………………….. 140
Practices of the Self………………………………………………... 144
Inhabiting a Lived Space with Children…………………………… 148
Making Room for Authenticity…………………………….. ……... 152
The Inauthentic Emerges – Playing a Role…………................................... 154
Forming Oneself While In-Forming Others………………….……………. 159
The Corporality of Classroom Non-Compliance………………….. 159
The Change Begins………………………………………… ……... 164
The Unnecessary Battle for Control……………………………….. 167
The Anxiety of the Unknown……………………………………… 171
Building a Classroom Learning Community………………………. 173
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Learning to Flow…………………………………………………………… 177
Developing as a Teacher…………………………………………… 177
Learning to Listen to Students…………………………………….. 181
How a Beginning Teacher Develops………………………………. 186
Experience Flow Without Seeking to Control……………………... 190
Seeking Authenticity………………………………………………. 195
A Two-Way Street of Caring………………………………. 197
Listening to Self…………………………………………… 199
Making Contact……………………………………………………. 202
Connecting the Language of Flow to the Related Themes of the
Study………………………………………………………………. 206

CHAPTER 5 A LANGUAGE OF BEGINNING EMERGES…………... 207

The Journey Toward a New Way of Being………………………………... 207
A New Language Emerges………………………………………………… 210
A Way of Being Like Running Water……………………………... 210
A Way of Being Like Letters Written in Sand…………….. ……... 212
A Way of Being Like Letters Carved in Stone…………….. ……... 214
Reinvigorating the Language of Beginning Teacher
Preparation and Support…………………………………… 216
The Wisdom of Stories…………………………………………………….. 219
The Riddle of the Beginning Teacher Experience………………… 220
Listening to the Language of Beginning…………………… ……... 222
The Formation Begins………………………………………………………224
Planning for Authenticity………………………………………….. 224
Deconstructing the Notion of Teacher……………............... 226
(Un)Becoming a Teacher…………………………............... 229
Pedagogical Interactions / Interruptions…………………................ 232
Encountering a “Blockheaded” Policy……………………………...235
Being Measured for Quality……………………………………….. 238
Moving Forward…………………………………………………… 241
Orientating Beginning Teachers……………………………………............ 242
Determining One’s Being………………………………….. ……... 242
Care for Being……………………………………………… ……... 245
Understanding the Needs of Beginners.……………….................... 247
Common Readings to Elicit Common Language…………………. 251
The Vocation and Calling of Teaching…………………….. 252
Deconstructing Teaching……………………………………252
Seeking Understanding and Acceptance as Challenges
Emerge……………………………………... ……... 253
Finding Humor and Beauty in Teaching Stories…………... 253
Seeking to Understand and Care for Others……….. …….. 253
A Guide to a New Dwelling Place…………………………. ……... 254
Support Adjusting to a New Place…………………………. ……... 258
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Learning How to Learn……………………………………………. 260
Reflective Conversations on Pedagogical Interactions………..…… ……... 263
Avoiding the “Fix-it” Response……………………………. ……... 269
“Educative Mentoring”……………………………………………. 270
Questions Emerge……………..…………………………………… 273
Conversation Starters………………………………………………. 275
What is My Teacher Identity?.............................................. 276
“Arrogance Reduction”…………………………………….. 277
Beliefs about Pedagogy……………………………………. 279
The Language of Development……………………………………………. 280
A New Way of Being a Beginning Teacher and a Mentor………… 284

APPENDIX A: LETTER OF INVITATION……………………………… 287

APPENDIX B: CONSENT FORM………………………………………... 288

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….. 291

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