Virginia Tech
    • Log in
    View Item 
    •   VTechWorks Home
    • ETDs: Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Doctoral Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   VTechWorks Home
    • ETDs: Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Doctoral Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Making the Transition From Paraeducator to Professional Educator: Five Minority Teachers Share Their Stories

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    FinalDisserMaster.pdf (2.681Mb)
    Downloads: 189
    Date
    2002-04-11
    Author
    White, Margaret Cole
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Slightly more than two million teachers will be needed for the nation's classrooms within the next decade. Consequently, some states have begun to look to their ready supply of paraeducators, also known as teacher assistants, as a pipeline for supplying qualified teachers. These paraeducators who make the career change to teachers are more likely to remain in hard-to-supply geographic areas and to increase the diversity of the teaching force. This study explored the lived experiences of five minority women who successfully negotiated the transition process to become professional teachers. Phenomenological interviewing, within the hermeneutic phenomenology tradition, was the methodology used for data collection. To understand how these paraeducators attained their aspiration, testimonies of their experiences were developed from a series of extended interviews and presented as reconstructed narratives. The transcribed narratives identified common themes that were linked with research on personal and professional development of minority women seeking to make a career change. The discussion of these narratives revealed transitional paths shaped by pain tempered by perseverance and goal-setting. The five women's working to achieve their goal, encased in a common time frame, began with an experience that propelled them on their journey. Four common elements emerged as beneficial in supporting attainment of their professional goals: (a) leadership support; (b) financial support; (c) family support; and (d) personal power.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27870
    Collections
    • Doctoral Dissertations [14200]

    If you believe that any material in VTechWorks should be removed, please see our policy and procedure for Requesting that Material be Amended or Removed. All takedown requests will be promptly acknowledged and investigated.

    Virginia Tech | University Libraries | Contact Us
     

     

    VTechWorks

    AboutPoliciesHelp

    Browse

    All of VTechWorksCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Log inRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    If you believe that any material in VTechWorks should be removed, please see our policy and procedure for Requesting that Material be Amended or Removed. All takedown requests will be promptly acknowledged and investigated.

    Virginia Tech | University Libraries | Contact Us