Working together more than alone: students' evolving perceptions of self and community within a four-year educational administration doctoral cohort

School administrators rarely have the opportunity to confer and share their challenges with colleagues. To address this problem in 2005 the Educational Administration Department (EAD) at Central University (a Midwestern PhD granting institution located in a thriving city of about 100,00 people) crea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inQualitative report Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 1645 - 1668
Main Authors d, Lance, Vaughn, Courtney
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Fort Lauderdale Nova Southeastern University, Inc 01.11.2011
The Qualitative Report
Nova Southeastern University
Subjects
Blended Learning
Central Cities
Central Office Administrators
College Faculty
Communities of Practice
Community Relations
Computer Mediated Communication
Cooperation
Cultural Identity
Distance Education
Doctoral Programs
Educational Administration
Educational Technology
Group Activities
Identity
Instructional Leadership
Interprofessional Relationship
Leaders
Learning
Learning Activities
Learning Processes
Oklahoma
Phenomenology
Professional Development
Professional Isolation
Professional Training
Student Attitudes
Students
Symbolic Interactionism
Universities and colleges
Urban Areas
Oklahoma
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Summary:School administrators rarely have the opportunity to confer and share their challenges with colleagues. To address this problem in 2005 the Educational Administration Department (EAD) at Central University (a Midwestern PhD granting institution located in a thriving city of about 100,00 people) created a virtual/local doctoral cohort for 14 school leaders living and working in two states. Three years into the course of study we conducted a year long inquiry that asked, "How did students' self-perceptions evolve within a cohort context, and how did these changes advance or retard professional learning community (PLC) growth?" Our interviews had a phenomenological focus but we used symbolic interactionism to analyze them and dramaturgy to present our findings. Themes of faculty and student relationships, work and/or personal problems and dealing with technology indicated that despite some significant hurdles students' identity evolutions moved the group toward becoming a PLC, a collaborative culture of thinkers. Key Words: Learning Communities, Doctoral Cohorts, Phenomenology, Dramaturgy.
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ISSN:1052-0147
2160-3715