Date

7-31-2023

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Chair

Sharon Michael-Chadwell

Keywords

novice teachers, pre-service teachers, teacher candidates, readiness, culturally responsive teaching, diversity pedagogy, diverse settings, preparedness

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine how novice teachers from the Association of American Educators (AAE) described their readiness for diverse classroom settings. Novice teachers are generally described as teachers employed in their first through third year. The central research question for this study was, "In what ways do novice teachers describe their readiness for teaching in diverse classroom settings?" Transcendental phenomenology was selected as a research method for this study to examine the lived experiences of novice teachers and explore their sense of preparedness for diverse classrooms. The theory guiding this study was Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory. Through purposive and snowball sampling, 12 participants participated in the research study. The data presented in this study was gathered through interviews, surveys, and a focus group discussion. Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase thematic analysis was used as a framework for the analysis of data within this study. The research findings indicated that novice teachers feel unprepared to teach in diverse classroom settings while seeking the support of mentor teachers, colleagues, and their administrative team. In this study, participants indicated that school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated their level of unpreparedness by limiting their clinical practice opportunities. The research findings revealed several implications for policies that should be created and practices that should be followed by teacher preparation programs and administrators within diverse school environments.

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