A portrait of grace: teaching for meaningfulness in school settings

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore teaching for meaningfulness in a school setting. I feel that a better understanding of teaching for meaningfulness can support the practice of teachers who desire to teach for meaningfulness.

I elected to do a case study using qualitative methods while focusing for five months on a teacher's literacy program. Through this look at the everyday life of one public school teacher and her class a picture of an exemplary example of teaching for meaningfulness could be painted. Interviews, fieldnotes, journals, observations, various site artifacts, and a brief teacher autobiography comprised the primary data collection sources. Informants included a third grade teacher, eighteen third grade students, and a school language arts coordinator.