"Junior High Educators' Lived Experiences of Self-directed Learning for" by April Vay Madsen

Date of Conferral

1-28-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

JoAnn McAllister

Abstract

Researchers have identified common educator challenges in switching from face-to-face to online teaching, including time management, course content, communication, and the use of technology effectively. There is little or no research on the lived experiences of junior high school educators who applied self-directed learning skills to adapt to the changes in educational formats from March 2020 to September 2020. This qualitative study aimed to explore these experiences as educators transitioned to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mezirow’s transformational learning theory and Knowles et al.’s adult learning assumptions are used as the theoretical and conceptual frameworks, respectively. Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenology was used to look at the experiences of six junior high teachers from the western United States. Data from semi structured interviews over Zoom were analyzed using phenomenological reduction. Findings revealed that educators applied adult learning skills primarily to meet students’ needs, rather than for personal development. This suggests that learning for others was a key motivator in adapting to online methods. Additionally, the study found that individual strengths and weaknesses in learning development varied among educators. These insights can help educational leaders refine professional development resources to better foster self-direction in teaching, ultimately improving learning outcomes and contributing to positive social change for both teachers and students.

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