This three-study dissertation explored: "How are higher education stakeholders radically (re)imagining liberatory, abolitionist, decolonizing, and queering futures within U.S. higher education and beyond?" With diverse cohorts of Collaborators, I examined this question through a bricolage methodology (Hammersley, 2008), which blended the…

This phenomenological study on experiential learning, specifically studying abroad, examined the evolution of education in the United States, including the rise of standardized testing and the increased focus on whole child and democratic teaching and learning. The participants found a positive correlation between their study abroad experience and…

Leading people often involves guiding individuals through some type of season of healing. It may be physical healing, or it may be emotional or spiritual. This study uses a mixed methods approach to explore a Christ-centered healing method for Christians struggling with identity wounds. In this context, identity wounds denote a sense of internal…

In the aftermath of George Floyd's death, independent schools faced a resounding demand for racial parity, compelling them to adopt transformative practices in response to community members voicing long-standing racial injustices (Carrera, 2021). This dissertation examined the perspectives of heads of independent schools in the U.S. regarding the…

Students enrolled in accelerated academic programs are not immune to mental health concerns that other students may face. Despite the increasing evidence that perfectionism is correlated with psychological distress among adolescents, there is a gap in the literature on how interventions developed for use in adolescent populations may affect this…

The U.S. Surgeon General defines determinants of health as "the range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status" (Donatelle, 2019). These determinants encompass various health goals but despite them, health-related issues persist across the population, indicating a need for comprehensive…

This dissertation engages a multi-step process to identify and articulate the internally defined goals of prominent holistic pedagogies including Montessori, Waldorf, Democratic Free Schooling, homeschooling, and radical/progressive education. It gives voice to adult former students who speak to, and illustrate, the ways in which they were…

Schools, institutionally designed to formalize education, often leave individuals longing for something more. Multiple disciplines attribute the pursuit of something more to transformation. While a common discussion in academic literature, transformation is underdeveloped in education. This dissertation explored transformational education from a…

This qualitative, single-case study investigated undergraduate students' perceptions and experiences of the academic advisement approach in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) academic program at the University of Wisconsin Stout. Focusing on holistic advising to address diverse and evolving needs, the study aimed to inform…

Female student-athletes encounter unique challenges in navigating their social and mental well-being, often intensified by various stereotypes and pressures within athletic culture. This study explores the experiences of female student-athletes in community creation as well as how the various communities contribute to their growth and development.…

In this qualitative multiple-case study, three teachers' understanding of holistic education philosophy was explored through their enacted instructional practices in mathematics classrooms in a holistic school in India. Drawing upon the ethnographic methodology, the data collected include interviews and conversations, classroom observations, and…

Researchers have extensively investigated the quantitative relationship between various admissions requirements and their predictive capability for academic success in DPT programs; however, limited investigators have examined the perceptions of these requirements by admissions faculty. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the…

Student success is an integral part of systemic change research. However, students' lived experiences and voices are often subdued in this programme, leaving the change that occurs to be evaluated upon measures that do not capture a holistic view of the experiences students and their shifting identities during the roll-out of those changes. These…

Building on the existing concepts of multiliteracies and of translanguaging repertoires, I propose the concept of transliteracy repertoires--or the idea that individuals' idiolects do not naturally delineate between named languages or named modes. I theorize that these transliteracy repertoires: (1) are deeply connected with individuals'…

Religious and spiritual (R/S) identities are not stagnant constructs, as may often be believed (Strawn, 2019). The landscape of religion and spirituality is shifting rapidly, and these changes point to individual experiences of R/S transition. One place these kinds of individual changes are occurring is within counselor training. Counselor…