04/09/2021
By Robin Hall

The College of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Kathleen Bernklow on “Work as Meaning, Resilience, and Retention of Massachusetts' Special Education Teachers.”

Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Time: 1 p.m. EST
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should email Stacy_Szczesiul@uml.edu at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Dissertation Chair: Stacy Szczesiul, Ed.D., Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Dissertation Committee:

  • Jill Lohmeier, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • John McKenna, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:

This study explored why some special education teachers (SET) have chosen to remain in the profession despite the rapid implementation of change that they do not control or value. SETs have left the profession at alarming rates in the last decade and continue to do so, creating a knowledge and skills gap of experienced teachers to work with our struggling and, arguably, most challenging students.

This mixed-methods study builds on the findings from a pilot study that examined adult resilience of SETs in Massachusetts. The pilot identified special education teachers, with various lengths of teaching experience, for whom the pressures and changes of the teaching profession have had little long-term or lasting detrimental effects. This study explored quantitatively how resilience subscale results and demographic data correlate with participant’s self-perceptions of resilience and includes qualitative interview analyses from 16 survey respondents who screened as resilient. Together, both phases were situated in a framework of Work as Meaning. Study participants were interviewed as to how the special education teachers understand the relationship between their own ability to be resilient and finding renewed meaning in their work and its impact on their decision to remain in the profession. Several themes were identified including positive and negative experiences with administrator support and mitigators of burnout, such as mindfulness, that help resilient educators manage stress due to personal and professional demands.