Counselor Identity Development: A Heuristic Look into the Past, Present, and Future Role Identities

The purpose of this research was to explore and gain further insight into personal and professional roles. Through personal self-reflection, this researcher sought to better understand how her religious/spiritual and teacher roles influenced her professional identity as an emerging dance/movement therapist and counselor. This research study utilized and completed two full cycles of the heuristic methodology by engaging in two stages of data collection and data analyses, and therefore produced two creative syntheses through expressive movement. Nine co-researchers assisted during the investigation of personal and professional role identities. After analyzing and synthesizing the data as a whole, a movement piece was created (second creative synthesis) that sought to integrate both her personal and professional roles. Results demonstrated how her role identities coincided with various parts of her body and how these roles could be integrated both physically and psychologically. In addition, this researcher discovered that each role was significant in and of itself, and certain aspects of each role enhanced her emerging role as a dance/movement therapist

The Road traveled to becoming a safe high school

Many urban school districts share a common profile of high dropout rates, low graduation rates, high discipline statistics and acts of school violence, and low student achievement on assessments. Researchers have argued high schools are teaching students in ways that are not only ineffective but also fail to provide the requisite tools for students to achieve success in the 21st century (Gates Foundation, 2010). Additional voices claim urban high schools are not adequately preparing students to become successful citizens for a knowledge-based society (Cuban, 2007). Using qualitative methodology, this naturalistic study revealed five factors that contribute to creating a safe urban high school in a large school district. Open, Axial and selective coding were used to generate understandings and linkages from the interviews, observations, artifacts and literature related to high school reform and school safety. Five research questions anchored the basis for this study. Findings from this study revealed that principal leadership and learning proved to be two significant factors that characterize a safe school. Findings also revealed internal and external factors that appear to have contributed to the development of a previously unsafe high school to being a safe one. Specifically - resources, administrative support and community context contributed to one urban high school becoming safe. The study report concludes with the introduction of an organizing framework related to factors that contribute to a safe school