Postmodern story of meaning making in a residence ...
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Postmodern story of meaning making in a residence life organization: a transformational change process
Postmodern story of meaning making in a residence life organization: a transformational change process
Name:Personal
Graglia, Pamela Role :Text(marcrelator)
creator
Graglia, Pamela Role :Text(marcrelator)
creator
Name:Personal
Rodriguez, Katrina L. Role :Text(marcrelator)
thesis advisor
Rodriguez, Katrina L. Role :Text(marcrelator)
thesis advisor
Name:Personal
Lahman, Maria K. Ea Role :Text(marcrelator)
thesis advisor
Lahman, Maria K. Ea Role :Text(marcrelator)
thesis advisor
Name:Personal
Gimmestad, Michael J. Role :Text
committee member
Gimmestad, Michael J. Role :Text
committee member
Name:Personal
Smith, Mark A. Role :Text
committee member
Smith, Mark A. Role :Text
committee member
Name:Corporate
Higher Education & Student Leadership Role :Text(marcrelator)
sponsor
Higher Education & Student Leadership Role :Text(marcrelator)
sponsor
Name:Corporate
University of Northern Colorado Role :Text(marcrelator)
degree grantor
University of Northern Colorado Role :Text(marcrelator)
degree grantor
typeOfResource
text genre(marcgt)
Thesis
Origin Information
Place
University of Northern Colorado (keyDate="yes")
2009-05 Place :Text
Greeley (Colo.)
2009-05
University of Northern Colorado (keyDate="yes")
2009-05 Place :Text
Greeley (Colo.)
2009-05
Language
:Text
English
English
Physical Description
258 pages
born digital
258 pages
born digital
abstract
Current research on change and transformation in higher education frequently relies on models which "clean up" the messy process of creating change into easily consumed lists of strategies. However these reductive strategies may be incomplete and alternatives which provide a more complex picture of the process of change have been suggested. Additionally, while sensemaking has been identified as critical to transformation, little research exists on meaning making during change processes in higher education settings. Using social constructivist epistemology and a postmodern theoretical framework, the purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to explore how individuals in a higher education organization make meaning of a process intended as transformational change. This 12 month case study of a complex residence life organization at a large research university included 45 individual and six group interviews, 340 hours of observation and document collection, and an extensive researcher reflexivity journal. The resulting postmodern portrait blurs the boundaries of academic writing, literature, and art. The account displays the intersections of roles, relationships and responsibilities across an organization during a change process, and explores how individual perceptions and relationships contribute to personal and collective meaning-making. Further, the methodological framework of this study and the resulting "messy text" was designed to disrupt the metanarrative of the authoritative researcher voice and invite the reader into the analysis. While traditional research focuses on definitive findings, this inquiry contributes to the literature by raising questions and evoking reflection on the nature of creating transformational change in higher education. Additionally, the intent of this postmodern inquiry is to shift the paradigm of what it means to generate knowledge in the area of transformation in higher education from a focus on how practitioners create change to a focus on how practitioners think about creating change. In keeping with the methodological intentions of this study, practitioners were invited to read and respond to the narrative. The need to think holistically and systemically, being other-focused, knowing personal and organizational stories, and the importance of pausing in practice to make individual and group meaning were identified as salient when considering implications of this inquiry around change. note
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doctoral
doctoral
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:thesis(displayLabel="Degree Name")
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
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Graglia_unco_0161N_10002.pdf
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http://hdl.handle.net/10176/cogru:118
http://hdl.handle.net/10176/cogru:118
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Record Information
languageOfCataloging
:Text(ISO639-2B)
English :Code(ISO639-2B)
eng
English :Code(ISO639-2B)
eng
note:admin
note:bibliography
note:thesis(displayLabel="Degree Type")
PhD note:thesis(displayLabel="Degree Name")
doctoral
Subject
Subject
Subject
Name:Personal
Subject
Name:Corporate
Subject
accessCondition:restrictionOnAccess
Title Information:Alternative
Subject
Subject
Qualitative Studies
Qualitative Studies
Subject
Higher Education
Higher Education
Subject
Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Subject
Residence Life
Residence Life
Subject
Transformational Change
Transformational Change
Subject
Organizational Change
Organizational Change
Subject
Social Constructivism
Social Constructivism