The Healing of Stories: International Teachers' Lived Experiences of School Culture Using the Hourglass Model for Mindful Reflections

School culture affects all facets of teaching and learning. Starting from individual international teachers' perspectives and their accounts relating to school culture, new insights and perspectives on the problem of practice were gained. The research focused on answering the questions: What are teachers' experiences of school culture in international schools? What are teachers' perspectives on critical components in developing a positive school culture? What was helpful to teachers when experiencing the positive and negative aspects of a school culture? A qualitative narrative research methodology involved interviewing ten international teachers who taught in K-12 grade schools in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America, and Europe. These international teachers' voices and stories were grouped into the dimensions of People, Places, Practices, and Philosophies. Over 20 stories from the participants were collected to find recurring themes. The international teachers evaluated their current and most recent experiences to find closure, heal, or advocate for change when faced with the negative aspects of a school culture in their current contexts. The participants confirmed the significance of the phenomenon of school culture offering their perspectives on the ways it could be improved. The three dominant themes emerged: Cultural Exchange, Belonging, and Resilience as a response to the individual research questions. The themes highlighted the important areas to address in international teacher education. The Hourglass Model for Mindful Reflections is the Artifact III as the product of this research. This Model allows pre-service and in-service teachers to reflect on their situations and personal contexts acknowledging their choices and actions, providing healing and catharsis. With this, the research attempts to 'restory' justice for international teachers. As school culture goes beyond the context of international schools, the research results could be extended to other schools' contexts worldwide. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]