Nourishing Flourishing: Elevating Elementary Educator Jouissance

Authors

Julie T. Siemianowski, Northern Illinois UniversityFollow

Date of Degree

2025

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction (CI)

Director

Wickens, Corrine

Committee Members

Manderino, Michael; Ahn, Hyoju

Keywords

professional learning, grace, gratitude, well-being, optimism, stress, joy, happiness, literacy coach, teachers

Abstract

This study was conducted, predicated on the following theories: Nel Noddings’s ethics of care, Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (social cognitive theory), and positive psychology’s Martin Seligman’s PERMA (well-being). For the purposes of this study, Seligman’s PERMA (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment) theory encompasses both Kerry Howells’ gratitude and David Chan’s gratitude and subjective well-being. Qualitative methodology, specifically, the combination of narrative inquiry and case study guided and informed my data collection. Through semi-structured interviews and story-telling, teachers and literacy leaders shared their stories of external distressers and internal factors contributing to their professional jouissance or lack thereof.

Key words: jouissance, ethics of care, self-efficacy, optimism, gratitude, grace, well-being

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.

Recommended Citation

Siemianowski, Julie T., "Nourishing Flourishing: Elevating Elementary Educator Jouissance" (2025). Dissertations of Practice. 101.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/101