Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Special Education

Major Professor

David Allsopp, Ph.D.

Committee Member

John Ferron, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ann Cranston-Gingras, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Catia Cividini-Motta, Ph.D.

Keywords

Reflection, Problem Solving, Educator Professional Development, Action Research

Abstract

A slew of challenges make up the landscape of special education today-from teacher shortages to lack of resources and vast inequities. Teachers must be able to effectively address the diverse needs of students in the midst of the aforementioned challenges at a micro, meso, and macro level. Teacher Inquiry, an iterative problem-solving cycle, is an effective framework for teachers to do so. The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic empathy-embedded problem-solving cycle for special education teachers in order to increase student progress and effective problem-solving in the educational setting, while exploring how teachers say they perceive this intervention and how it works, in order to more fully develop it in the future. A mixed methods approach was used to answer the research questions “What are the effects of an empathy embedded teacher inquiry framework on teacher behavior?”, “What are the effects of an empathy embedded teacher inquiry framework on student behavior outcomes?”, “In what ways does an empathy embedded teacher inquiry framework impact teacher thinking and perceptions of their practices?”, “In what ways does an empathy embedded teacher inquiry framework impact teacher perceptions of their students and student progress?”, and “In what ways does an empathy embedded teacher inquiry framework impact the development of empathy in teachers?”.

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