The lived experience of teachers in a restructured elementary school

Dorothy Diane Lawrence, Purdue University

Abstract

This study investigated the nature of the lived experience of teachers in a restructured elementary school. A semiotic phenomenological framework was used to look at the code(s) teachers create to build a unified vision for their school. The restructuring initiative at Walker Elementary was part of a prototype plan in a small Midwest city school district to involve the teachers and principal from the beginning in every stage of development from interior design to academic structure. All faculty members volunteered to transfer to the new school with the understanding that restructuring was the objective. Pre-building meetings between the principal, teachers, and parent representatives began the extensive process of developing vision and mission statements, designing curriculum, and implementing site-based management. A state-funded grant supporting restructuring programs, written by the faculty, provided monies for several monthly inservice sessions prior to the building opening. Personal narrative interviews engaged the participants and researcher in looking at the process of restructuring through a humanistic lens rather than as a technical, step-by-step approach. The participants reflected on their own teaching experiences (decoding their pedagogical beliefs and values layer-by-layer) to reveal that a recoding of beliefs about teaching and learning was taking place because of the processes of restructuring. The crux of the study, however, is in the conscious awareness that the essence of the teachers' lived experiences in a restructured elementary school is all encompassing. It is about the whole of Walker. The essence is not fully understood if divided into segments, but must instead be looked at through all the interconnections of its restructured system. The teachers, as primary stakeholders, are the key to understanding those interconnections because of their commitment to engaging at a level of knowing that we know. This dynamic is ongoing and as such secures the future of the Walker vision.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Martinez, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Elementary education|Educational administration|Educational sociology

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