Table Of ContentABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: ATTENDING TO STORIES OF HIGH SCHOOL
DISPLACEMENT: THE LIVED HIGH SCHOOL
EXPERIENCE OF GED® COLLEGE GRADUATES
Mary Grace Snyder
Doctor of Philosophy, 2009
Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine Hultgren
Department of Education Policy Studies
College of Education
University of Maryland
This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry is called by the question, “What is
the lived high school experience of GED college graduates?” GED college graduates
are people who have dropped out of high school, used the GED Tests to earn their
jurisdiction’s high school diploma, then graduated from a four-year institution. If these
individuals have the intellectual acumen and personal commitment to earn a bachelor’s
degree, then why did they drop out of high school? Conversations with seven GED
college graduates uncover the displacement that drove them out of a traditional high
school program.
The hermeneutic phenomenological methodology is grounded in the philosophical
work of Heidegger, especially as developed by Merleau-Ponty and Levinas, which elicits
an awareness of our embodied being’s struggle to embrace Being and the moral necessity
of responding to that presence. Van Manen’s work guides the “doing” of this philosophy
as human science research in education.
The stories of the lived high school experiences of the seven GED college
graduates reveal the disquiet of their displacement. They each felt that they did not fit the
mold that high school wanted: they felt they were different, outcasts, not part of the “in
crowd.” They felt the inequitable treatment and bodily discomfort caused by this
difference. They report only a nominal, caring presence at school, and this disregard
further alienated them. School was disappointed in their lack of commitment and
enthusiasm for traditional coursework, and the students, in turn, were disappointed that
school cared so little for their needs. Dropping out protected them from the pain of
further displacement.
Attending to these stories of displacement may help educators imagine a different
way of creating high school. Smaller high schools might make each student a more
significant part of the student body, better known to teachers, and more likely to feel
implaced. Additionally, alternate programs might allow students to deviate from the
traditional K-12 timeline into work experiences, to follow compelling interests, or to
gather into community around similar questions about their world. Teacher preparation
programs that offer multiple visions for high school could be instrumental in making such
change a reality.
ATTENDING TO STORIES OF HIGH SCHOOL DISPLACEMENT:
THE LIVED HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE OF GED
® COLLEGE GRADUATES
By
Mary Grace Snyder
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2009
Advisory Committee:
Dr. Francine H. Hultgren, Chair and Advisor
Dr. Barbara Bass
Dr. Steve Selden
Dr. Wayne Slater
Dr. Linda Valli
© Copyright by
Mary Grace Snyder
2009
Dedication
To all high school students who struggle to find their place.
Acknowledgements
My dream to capture high school’s living feel
Is borne by those who shared their desperate flight;
The seven who re-membered stories sealed,
Give me the heart to champion their fight.
And ever by me, love one cannot earn:
My family’s care supports and shepherds me;
They even set themselves the task to learn
To say, “Hermeneutic Phenomenology.”
My deepest, heartfelt thanks must go to she
Who read the words but heard the song therein;
The caring net she wove so seamlessly
Drew forth what light and sight might lie within.
Just one remains to thank with pleasure rare:
The husband who is loved beyond compare.
I am also deeply indebted to my dissertation committee whose fortitude in reading such a
long document as well as their meticulous, caring response has been remarkable. Many
extended family members, friends, coworkers, fellow graduate students, and my own
graduate students have often stepped into the breach of my flagging spirit to offer just the
right word of encouragement. “No man [or woman!] is an island,” and whatever I have
accomplished here is not my achievement alone.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One: Called by the Stories of GED® College Graduates 1
Hearing Their Stories 2
Katie 3
Charles 4
Tanya 5
Comparing Our Stories 6
Who I Have Been 7
Who I Have Become 8
What They Have Drawn Me to See 10
Uncovering the High School Dropout Story 10
Modeling the Theory of the High School Experience 12
Withdrawing from School 13
Comparing the Caring Relationships of GED Students in
High School and College 16
Writing the GED Tests into the High School Story 19
Caring About High School Dropouts 22
Is Indifference Immoral? 23
Discovering a Path from Indifference to Care 28
Heeding the Call of Phenomenology 29
Structuring My Work 34
Chapter Two: Relinquishing the Struggle Against Dis-placement:
Dropping Out 35
Exposing the Historical Purpose of High School 36
Describing the Challenges to Implacement in High School 39
Flunking Out: The Original Stereotype 40
Recognizing the Power of Implacement 42
Finding a Place in High School 44
Listening to the Stories of Dis-placement 47
Teaching and Dis-placement 49
Mentoring Students to “Be” 51
Reflecting on the External Causes of Dis-placement 53
Reflecting on White Privilege 53
Reflecting on Cultural Capital 57
Reflecting on Poverty 59
Reflecting on Materialism 62
Tracing the Effects of Dis-placement 64
Feeling Out of Place 65
Concealing Dis-placement 68
Bulwarking a Safe Place 70
Escaping High School 73
Finding a Place as an Adult 74
Choosing Parenthood 74
Challenging Society’s Expectations for Dropouts 77
Chapter Three: Caring about Dropping Out: Philosophical and
Methodological Grounding 84
Heeding the Call to Reflection 85
Resisting the Technical 87
Embracing Phenomenology 88
The Essence of Caring 90
Describing Phenomenology 93
Philosophical Basis of Phenomenology 94
Accepting Martin Heidegger 97
Implacing Heidegger 97
Applying This Insight to Heidegger 99
Integrating Heidegger’s Disparate Places 103
An English Teacher’s Reflection 106
Developing a Philosophy of Caring 108
Imagining an Ethic of Caring 116
Hermeneutic Phenomenology 120
Written Language 121
Reading 123
Vicarious Learning 125
Conversation 129
The Methodology of Phenomenology 131
Turning to the Nature of Lived Experience 131
Investigating Experience as We Live It 132
Reflecting on Essential Themes 133
The Art of Writing and Rewriting 136
Maintaining a Strong and Oriented Relation 138
Balancing the Research Context by Considering Parts and Whole 138
Listening to the Lived High School Experience of GED College Graduates 139
Chapter Four: Delving into the Disquiet of Displacement 148
Listening to the Disquiet of Displacement 150
Catherine 150
Simon 152
Lee 153
Reenie 154
Chad 155
Sharon 157
Joe 158
Understanding the Intensity of Displacement 160
Feeling the Disquiet of Displacement 161
Molding Dropouts 164
Experiencing the Displacement of Difference 167
Being an Outcast 171
Finding Yourself Outside the “In-Crowd” 173
Experiencing the Displacing Dispiritedness of Inequitable Treatment 177
Experiencing the Bodily Dys-appearance of Difference 182
Experiencing the Bodily Displacement of Physical Abuse 187
Experiencing the Displacement of Disregard 195
Experiencing the Absence 201
The Present Absence 202
The Absent Presence 205
Caring is a Heartfelt Presence 208
The Caring, Heartfelt Presence 212
The Weakened, Heartfelt Presence 214
The Authoritarian Presence 216
The Un-caring Presence 217
Experiencing the Displacement of Disappointment 219
Understanding Engrossment and Motivational Displacement 224
Finding School Irrelevant 229
Staying Connected Through Drugs 239
Rejoicing in the Difference Between High School and College or the
Workplace 243
Finding a Place to Begin Again 250
Chapter Five: Dreaming Them Implaced 252
Dreaming of Different Paths Through High School 253
Dreaming of Smaller Schools and Greater Caring 253
Envisioning Smaller Lessens and Bigger Projects 258
Dreaming of Fewer Yardsticks and More Growth 263
Dreaming of Implacing Alternatives 266
Remembering the Influences Beyond the School Halls 271
Teaching the Teachers to Be Dreamers 273
Seeing Myself as Part of the Problem 274
Changing 276
Teaching the Teachers 278
Becoming 280
Appendix A 281
Appendix B 282
Appendix C 283
Appendix D 285
References 288
