Teachers' Experiences of Congruence and Aliveness

• Author / Creator

  Josée Marie Léonie Ouellette

• This phenomenological investigation asked “What are teachers’ lived experiences of congruence and aliveness in the workplace?” Congruence is about living in a way that is respectful and open to self and to others while acknowledging the current context and one’s own history. This study sought to understand four teachers’ experience of feeling alive in their jobs and what impeded or facilitated this experience. In-depth interviews were analysed using van Manen (2006) and Langdridge’s (2007) method of discovering the thematic aspects of a phenomenon. Four themes were identified to contribute to teachers’ positive experience of congruence and aliveness: struggling and striving, acknowledgment, engagement and viewing teaching as a calling. The study revealed that congruence is not a state one achieves but rather a dynamic process of constant striving toward alignment. When teachers find their own congruence, they actually feel more enlivened and stay in the profession. Implications for the teaching profession, administrators and the educational settings are discussed.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Congruence and aliveness
  • Teachers finding congruence

• Graduation date

  2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Psychotherapy and Spirituality

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3MW28V34

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.