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The Role of Professional Relationships in Early Childhood Special Education Practitioners’ Resilience: A Phenomenological Investigation

Abstract

The field of early childhood special education faces a significant teacher shortage that is in need of solutions (Bruder, 2010; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). An unaddressed area of examination in resilience research is the role that professional relationships play in enhancing teacher resilience, career longevity, and job satisfaction. This dissertation details a phenomenological qualitative study that explores relational resilience in early childhood special education practitioners. Qualitative methods included a demographics and resilience questionnaire and in-depth interviews. These methods offered a better understanding of the phenomenon of relational resilience in early childhood special education practitioners. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.

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