A CASE STUDY OF STAKEHOLDERS’ MOTIVATION TO INVEST IN CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION by Cory James Merante Liberty University A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Liberty University 2019 2 A CASE STUDY OF STAKEHOLDERS’ MOTIVATION TO INVEST IN CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION by Cory James Merante A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA 2019 APPROVED BY: Alan Wimberley, Ed.D., Doctor of Education, Committee Chair Russell Yocum, Ed.D., Doctor of Education, Committee Member 3 ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative case study is to describe the motivation of parents, teachers, and school board members to invest their efforts in classical Christian education in a modern American K-12 school. The theory guiding this study is expectancy-value theory as it relates to the evaluative aspects of stakeholders’ beliefs about classical Christian education and their motives to become involved in it. Classical Christian education includes the concepts of the trivium, explicit instruction, the Socratic method, and basic skills mastery, as well as carrying on the traditions of the West; all steeped in a Christian worldview. Data came in the form of interviews, documents, and focus groups from parents, teachers, and school board members who are involved with a classical Christian education. An analysis of the data revealed that stakeholders are motivated to invest their efforts in a classical Christian school by a variety of factors including, a disapproval of the mainstream educational philosophy and a strong desire to experience the core elements of the classical Christian philosophy. This study found that no matter what participants believed about classical Christian education, they placed a great deal of value on their expectations about the philosophy, and those expectations were being met, with few exceptions. Keywords: classical Christian education, liberal arts, expectancy-value theory, trivium 4 Acknowledgements All the glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you, God for answering prayers and wrapping me in your Holy Spirit when things got really difficult! Thank you to my saint-of-a-wife, Stacy, for your support and encouragement. I love you so very much! Thank you to my children, Cade, Ruby, Maeve, Nora, and Elsie for your patience and obedience when I asked for uninterrupted time. I love you, God bless you! Thank you to Dr. Spaulding for giving me the initial support and a chance to complete this process. Thank you also to Dr. Yocum for coming on board to help see me through the process. Finally, a tremendous thank you to my chair, Dr. Wimberley. You encouraged me, challenged me, and never gave up on me, even when it looked like certain failure. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to prove that I had what it took to complete this monumental task! 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 9 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 11 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 11 Background ....................................................................................................................... 12 Situation to Self................................................................................................................. 17 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................ 20 Purpose Statement ............................................................................................................. 21 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 22 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 22 Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 26 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 28 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 28 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 29 Related Literature .............................................................................................................. 31 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ................................................................................................. 58 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 58 Design ............................................................................................................................... 58 6 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 59 Setting ............................................................................................................................... 60 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 61 Procedures ......................................................................................................................... 62 The Researcher's Role ....................................................................................................... 64 Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 64 Documentation ...................................................................................................... 65 Interviews .............................................................................................................. 66 Focus Groups ........................................................................................................ 68 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 70 Trustworthiness ................................................................................................................. 72 Credibility ............................................................................................................. 72 Dependability and Confirmability ........................................................................ 73 Transferability ....................................................................................................... 73 Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................................... 73 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .................................................................................................... 75 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 75 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 75 Mrs. Carroll ........................................................................................................... 75 Mr. London ........................................................................................................... 76 Mrs. Montgomery ................................................................................................. 76 Mrs. Oleson ........................................................................................................... 77 7 Mrs. Alcott ............................................................................................................ 77 Mr. Cooper ............................................................................................................ 77 Mr. Crane .............................................................................................................. 78 Ms. Cuthbert ......................................................................................................... 78 Ms. Dickens .......................................................................................................... 79 Ms. Fisher ............................................................................................................