| Many secondary teachers, especially those with less than five years of experience, find the traditional isolation of teaching to be very problematic. Within various public spheres, the official discourse among teachers has been reduced to compliance and conformity, instead of engaging in critical debates that will translate into effective practices that could boost student achievement.; One of the most common negative outcomes resulting from teachers being isolated is the decrease in their morale. When morale decreases among the teaching staff, teachers lose passion for what they do. Many schools districts today are moving toward more collaborative structural models that give teachers more autonomy over their daily work, and involving them in the decision making process.; The purpose of this research was to determine the positive impact interdisciplinary teaming has on teacher morale. The researcher was interested in this area of research for a couple of reasons. First, there was an interest in learning more about a school structure like interdisciplinary teaming, which allows teachers to use their time within the school day to plan, collaborate, and dialogue about issues that directly affect them. Secondly, the researcher also wanted to bring out the importance of having high staff morale within a school organization. When a healthy school environment exists and teachers' morale is high, teachers feel good about themselves and what they are able to do for students.; In order to find out if interdisciplinary teaming positively impacts teacher morale, the researcher conducted a qualitative case study on a ninth grade interdisciplinary team of teachers. Throughout the twelve weeks of the study, individual interviews and observations were conducted in order to gain an understanding of how the teachers felt the interdisciplinary teaming process impacted their morale. The five chapters of this document include the development, process, and results of the research. What was learned from the research was that interdisciplinary teaming had a positive impact on teacher morale. |
