Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Corinne Bridges

Abstract

A growing trend in counselor education in the United States is to accommodate current technological change by including more online academic opportunities. Slow to emerge in the counselor education literature is information that highlights how instructors have negotiated the move from land-based teaching to online teaching. A lack of knowledge about this transitional experience is concerning because counselor education programs might overlook important opportunities to support indeed, facilitate the transitional process. The purpose of this research study was to illuminate the experiences of counselor educators who have transitioned from land-based to online teaching. A transcendental phenomenological approach provided the framework and guided the methodology. This study highlighted the experiences of 6 counselor educators from small universities across the United States who transitioned from teaching counseling courses in the classroom to teaching them online. Semistructured interviews provided the data for this study; analysis used Giorgi's systematic process of data reduction. Four major themes of common experience emerged from the data: (a) high expectations and low support from university leaders, (b) limits to transitional enthusiasm among counseling faculty, (c) solutions for transitional success for counseling faculty, and (d) support essential for the counselor educator's transition. Results of this study confirm a need for greater attention to the transitional process. Counselor educators requested more opportunities for experience and support. When considering social change, understanding the needs of counselor educators in this transition can help inform much needed training strategies and supportive services in counselor education programs.

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