Semester of Gradation
Fall 2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Teacher Leadership
Department
Bagwell College of Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Jen Wells
Second Advisor
Dr. Erin Adams
Third Advisor
Dr. Laurie Brantley-Dias
Abstract
ABSTRACT This qualitative phenomenological study explored how instructional coaching shapes suburban middle school social studies teachers’ morale, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Purposeful criterion sampling identified practicing social studies teachers, and data were collected through Seidman’s three-interview series. Analysis proceeded through iterative NVivo coding supported by memoing, reflexive journaling, a maintained audit trail, and member checks to enhance trustworthiness. Participants described feeling consistently overlooked, receiving inequitable content support compared to other core disciplines, and experiencing coaching that was often generic, misaligned, or irrelevant to the realities of social studies instruction. Teachers also reported feeling professionally undervalued and excluded from school-wide initiatives, circumstances that affected daily motivation, content-specific confidence, and their evolving professional identity. Relationship-centered coaching strengthened growth, while role clarity improved the uptake of coaching practices. Content-specific modeling and co-planning aligned with improved morale and instructional efficacy, whereas evaluation entanglement, initiative churn, and limited time reduced psychological safety and hindered implementation. These findings suggest the need to clarify the non-evaluative role of coaches, prioritize trust-building routines, embed discipline-specific coaching practices, and protect implementation time. Future mixed-methods work could extend these findings by testing these mechanisms at scale while preserving phenomenological nuance. Keywords: instructional coaching, social studies, teacher morale, self-efficacy, phenomenology