Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1998

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Mark A. Hector

Committee Members

Jan Allen, Kathleen Davis, Charles Thompson

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the teaching experience of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). Six male and six female GTAs from a large southeastern university participated in individual 45 to 90 minute unstructured interviews in which they were asked to talk about their experiences of teaching as a GTA. The GTA participants represented several different departments and varied in amount of teaching experience from three to nine semesters. Participants also represented a diversity of teaching formats familiar to GTAs including lecture, discussion, and lab. The main requirements for participation were that the GTA had primary responsibility for the teaching in that class and had at least two semesters of experience teaching as a GTA. Each GTA was asked to respond to the following statement: “Tell me about your experience of teaching as a GTA." Each interview was then transcribed and analyzed using a phenomenological method.

Analysis revealed a thematic structure comprised of three, main. interrelated themes: (1) Awareness of Self; (2) Awareness of Students; and (3) Making a Connection and Keeping Boundaries. The first main theme, Awareness of Self, was described as the participants’ awareness of themselves as teachers in the context of their students. This main theme consisted of the following seven sub-themes which represent the personal attributes that participants were aware of in their experiences: Self as Confident, Self as Knowledgeable, Self as Prepared, Self as Authority, Self as Performer, Who I Am, and Self as Learner. The second main theme, Awareness of Students, was described as the participants’ awareness of their students and how the students influenced their experience of teaching. GTAs were aware of their students in ways reflected in the following four sub-themes: Students as Interested/Not Interested, Students as Confrontational, Gender, and Race. The third main theme. Making a Connection and Keeping Boundaries, was described as the participants’ experience of the relationship between themselves and their students. GTAs were aware of wanting to make connections with their students which was balanced by keeping a boundary that separated “I the teacher” from “you the student”.

As one theme became figural, the others became the ground and contextualized the figural theme. As the first theme. Awareness of Self, emerged as figural and participants were aware of themselves in the experience of teaching, their awareness of their students receded and formed the ground from which participants made meaning about who they were as teachers. As the second theme. Awareness of Students, became figural and GTAs focused on some behavior or characteristic of their students, their awareness of themselves receded and became the ground from which they experienced their students. The third theme. Making a Connection and Keeping Boundaries, was contextualized by the perceived roles that GTAs and students play which incorporates aspects of both Awareness of Self and Awareness of Students.

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