Term of Award
Fall 2016
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading
Committee Chair
Sabrina N. Ross
Committee Member 1
Meca Williams-Johnson
Committee Member 2
Marlynn Griffin
Committee Member 3
Ming Fang He
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to understand how instructional coaching in schools affects teachers and, specifically, whether increased teacher empowerment was associated with instructional coaching based on the framework of the Partnership Principles (Knight, 2007). A goal of the research was to find out whether, and to what extent, teachers identified themselves as empowered. Using Critical Theory (Freire, 2012) as the theoretical framework for this analysis, the study also sought to develop an understanding of how teacher empowerment may develop as a result of working with instructional coaches who utilize the Partnership Principles. Six teachers in a rural district in the U.S. Southeast participated in a semi-structured interview in order to understand more about how coaching that uses Partnership Principles affects teachers in ways that support or increase empowerment. The survey findings indicate that instructional coaching can contribute to empowerment, but that it can also lead to teachers feeling disempowered. Analysis of the interviews revealed important themes about teacher-coach relationships, teacher engagement with the coaching process, how coaching improves instruction, and how addressing teachers’ professional learning needs supports their empowerment, all of which can inform the work of instructional coaches.
Recommended Citation
Goelman Rice, A. (2016). Teacher empowerment through instructional coaching: A qualitative study on the theory and application of Partnership Principles.
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
