Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2014 Journey to the Neighborhood: An Analysis of Fred Rogers and His Lessons for Educational Leaders Jeana Lietz Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Lietz, Jeana, "Journey to the Neighborhood: An Analysis of Fred Rogers and His Lessons for Educational Leaders" (2014). Dissertations. 1097. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/1097 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2014 Jeana Lietz LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO JOURNEY TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: AN ANALYSIS OF FRED ROGERS AND HIS LESSONS FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION BY JEANA LIETZ CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2014 Copyright by Jeana Lietz, 2014 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the numerous people that helped and supported me through this journey. First, I would like to thank my family. To my parents, Linda and George Naujokas, thank you for always being supportive of my education and quest for knowledge, buying me so many books as a child, stressing the importance of education, and for letting me watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. To my brother, Derek, thank you for always being there when I need you. To my husband and best friend, Clayton, while I started this journey before we met, it is because of your support and your persistence every step of the way that I was able to finish. Thank you for believing in me. I would also like to thank my advisor, Dr. Janis Fine, for her guidance, positive reinforcements, and support of my belief in the lessons of Fred Rogers. As the first person to have taught me the true meaning of servant leadership, I think you were the perfect advisor for a dissertation about Fred Rogers. Finally, I would like to thank the numerous people who helped my research that are carrying on the legacy of Fred Rogers. This includes Hedda Sharapan, David Newell, and the staff at the Fred Rogers Company and the Fred Rogers Archive. I feel grateful to have met and learned from you and hope that this dissertation can help spread the message of Fred Rogers. iii I would like to dedicate this work to my grandmother, Martha Naujokas. She always stressed the importance of education, and there is not a day that goes by that I do not miss her gentle spirit and unconditional love. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 4 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 4 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 6 History of Public Television ................................................................................... 7 The Evolution of Children’s Programming .......................................................... 11 Project Head Start ..................................................................................... 11 Joan Ganz Cooney’s “The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education” ................................................................................ 13 Television Shows .................................................................................................. 16 The Children’s Corner .............................................................................. 16 Captain Kangaroo .................................................................................... 17 Sesame Street ............................................................................................ 18 Leaders in Child Development Theory ................................................................. 20 Eric Erikson (1902-1994) ......................................................................... 20 Benjamin Spock, MD (1903-1998)........................................................... 21 T. Berry Brazelton, MD (Born 1919) ....................................................... 22 Topics in Childhood Development ....................................................................... 23 Insight into Childhood/Preschool Children .............................................. 24 Setting Rules/Discipline............................................................................ 26 Treating Children with Differences/Disabilities ....................................... 28 Disasters/Death ......................................................................................... 29 Recent Developments in Parenting and Child Development Theory… What has Happened Since Fred has Been Gone? ................................................. 31 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) ... 31 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother .............................................................. 31 David McCullough.................................................................................... 32 III. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 34 Historical Documentary ........................................................................................ 34 Case Study ............................................................................................................ 34 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 37 v Document Collection ............................................................................................ 38 Documents ............................................................................................................ 39 Primary Sources ........................................................................................ 39 Open-Ended Interviews ............................................................................ 42 Interview Procedures ................................................................................ 44 Secondary Sources .................................................................................... 45 The Analyzing Lens .............................................................................................. 47 Bureaucratic Authority.............................................................................. 49 Psychological Authority............................................................................ 50 Technical-Rational Authority ................................................................... 51 Professional Authority .............................................................................. 53 Moral Authority ........................................................................................ 54 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 56 Researcher’s Qualifications and Limitations ........................................................ 57 Summary of Research Methodology .................................................................... 59 IV. FRED ROGERS AND TELEVISION........................................................................ 61 Fred Rogers Starts in Television ........................................................................... 61 The Children’s Corner .............................................................................. 63 Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood .................................................................. 67 Advocacy for Public Television............................................................................ 74 Accolades for Fred Rogers’ Work ........................................................................ 77 Sergiovanni Analysis of Words and Actions ........................................................ 80 Analysis............................................................................................................... 104 V. FRED ROGERS AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT .................................................. 110 Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ............................................................................ 110 Fred Rogers’ Beliefs on Child Development ...................................................... 113 Origins of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ........................................................... 122 Dr. Margaret McFarland