Defense Date

8-30-2012

Graduation Date

Fall 2012

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Department

Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES)

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

William Casile

Committee Member

Nicholas Hanna

Committee Member

Lisa Levers

Keywords

Cohort, Doctoral, Duquesne

Abstract

This was a phenomenologically-oriented inquiry of the lived experiences of counselor education doctoral students in a cohort model. This inquiry sought to explore, describe, and understand students' everyday lived experiences in a cohort model in the Executive Doctoral Program in Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES) at Duquesne University, where the doctoral program is structured as a three-year, full-time, closed cohort model. The existential framework proposed by van Manen (1990) provided a framework for describing and understanding students' lived experiences in the corporeal, temporal, spatial, and relational realms of experience. The strategies used for this inquiry were based on multiple informants and data sources, which included individual and dyad interviews, and focus group discussions. A semi-structured protocol was used to gather phenomenological data from a purposive sample of twenty-six informants, who were affiliated with seven different cohort groups in the ExCES program. At the time of data collection, seven individuals were involved in an active cohort experience, nine individuals had completed the cohort experience and were working on their dissertations, and ten individuals had graduated from the program. Colaizzi's (1978) descriptive method of analysis was used to illuminate the common themes within the informants' perceptions and experiences in the program. The analysis generated themes that describe the informants' corporeal, temporal, spatial, and relational lived experiences in a cohort model. The analysis yielded potential hypotheses and directions for future research, and implications and recommendations for practice. The findings have provided an initial description of students' everyday lived experiences in a cohort model, and insight into the contextual influences that bear on these experiences, which will guide educators in their current roles.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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