Date
2-29-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Jerry Woodbridge
Keywords
teacher, resilience, incarcerated, incarcerated youth, juvenile, corrections, facilities, justice, perseverance, phenomenological, teacher challenges, recidivism, self-determination theory
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Bradshaw, Jessica D., "Resilience of Teaching Juveniles: A Phenomenological Study of Teachers in Juvenile Corrections Facilities" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5240.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5240
Abstract
The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to interpret the experience of resilience in teachers in juvenile corrections facilities. The theory guiding this study is the self-determination theory, which Richard Ryan and Edward Deci developed. Self-determination theory is a means to understand human motivation. The methodology to be used is a hermeneutic phenomenological approach using interviews, exhibit scenarios, and a journal reflection prompt from 13 voluntary participants of teachers and former teachers with experience in long-term juvenile corrections facilities from around the United States. Although the education field has challenges in any setting, the challenges specific to working in a long-term secure corrections facility housing teenage youth were the primary focus of this study. All data were analyzed using the hermeneutic circle in which the whole was interpreted through the individual parts, and the individual parts were interpreted through the whole, allowing for the preunderstandings of the researcher to be used to build a horizon between the past and the present. The participants revealed many unique challenges to their environment, including educational gaps, the need for safety, and the importance of building relationships with their students. The participants revealed their ability to build resilience by reflecting on their calling for their job, belief in a higher power, strong desire to help their students, and practicing self-care. The interpretations of the data collected showed that teachers had to build resilience continuously to avoid burnout, they held a passion for helping their students over their passion for teaching, and they thrived on the extra challenges of the juvenile correction facility.
