2026 Theses Doctoral

Teacher Archetypes in Urban Public Schools: A Study Through Literary Analysis, Focus Groups, and Interviews

Stewart, Kandice

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is still the most influential and controversial educational policy that has directly informed ongoing power dynamics of administrators, teachers, and students (Darling‐Hammond, 2007). Though this policy, along with the long legacy of other educational policies, is promoted as opportunities that should improve conditions in public schools (especially for students of color), a greater number of educators and educator researchers have illuminated that these policies create more challenging conditions and, consequently, have impacted teacher identity development and student achievement (Wells, 2014). Teachers enter the profession with deeply held beliefs about identity, purpose, and relational responsibility, yet public school systems often require them to perform narrowly defined roles that prioritize compliance, productivity, and emotional restraint.

This dissertation examined how teachers construct, perform, and negotiate professional identity through the lens of archetypes, drawing on Carl Jung’s analytical psychology to explore the psychological and symbolic dimensions of teaching. Using a qualitative, narrative-based methodology and grounded theory, this study analyzed data from multiple teachers through focus group sessions over 10 months, six individual interviews, reflective journals, and educator memoirs. Participants included teachers at varying career stages working primarily in public and urban school contexts.

Through thematic and discourse analysis, this research identified recurring teaching archetypes such as the Caregiver, the Ruler, the Innocent, and the Wounded Healer. It examined how these archetypes serve as adaptive responses to institutional expectations, power structures, andaccountability systems. This study provided information that may further develop teacher-preparation programs that center on teacher identity and how it impacts decisions made in the classroom. This study can be helpful in the development of educators and administrators throughout their careers. It could also be an asset for policymakers whose decisions directly impact the ecosystem of schools and classrooms.