Now it's Their Turn: How Young People of Color Experience Teacher Support

Background and Purpose: Research has established that teachers can make substantial contributions to students' well being. Teacher support is associated with students' increased academic engagement and success, as well as reduced problem behaviors and health-risk behaviors. Still, most studies of teacher support gather student data via surveys, which limit both response options and the data collected to known constructs. These encouraging findings about the effects of teacher support are ready for scrutiny directly from youth who experience that support. How do young people define useful teacher support? What support efforts might be well-intentioned, yet not helpful? Recent literature questions the motives and effectiveness of teacher efforts to provide support to low-income youth of color. How can teachers best support and build strengths with this socially vulnerable group of students?

Methods: Data were collected in a series of semi-structured interviews with 35 youth of color enrolled in three high schools, each with a predominantly low-SES student population. Students were selected by teacher nomination, based on the presence of at least one of three factors: (1) known engagement in high-risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, delinquent activity), (2) a history of externalizing behavior at school, or (3) not being in the custody of at least one biological parent. Data were coded and analyzed for significant themes related to experiences and perceptions of teacher support.

Results: Participants recognized and appreciated support offered by teachers, whether these teachers were assigned to mentor them (e.g., as an advisor) or known via other pathways (e.g. subject area teacher, coach). Students positively experienced teachers being available and accepting of them, particularly in strained circumstances (e.g. academic failure, police involvement). Students distinguished between teacher support and more formal counseling, although few in the sample were engaged in counseling services. A majority of students experienced teacher support as instrumental in their academic success and persistence.

Students also voiced concerns about certain qualities of teacher support. One theme was students' desire to keep relationships academically-focused. Many students expressed suspicion of teacher-initiated personal conversations, particularly if the relationships were not already strong. Students also raised doubts about the privacy of personal information held by any adult at school. Regarding teacher behavior, students generally described teachers as “weak” if they did not enforce rules and expect sustained effort and academic performance. In the absence of such forms of support and encouragement, students often felt ignored or abandoned by teachers.

Conclusions and Implications: In general, student data indicated that teachers provide meaningful, effective support within their professional role. Still, teachers may do what teacher-centered research defines as supportive, but could still be perceived by students as not supportive in the “right” way for them. These findings have implications for more nuanced teacher training in how to provide attuned support to youth, particularly when student and teacher cultural backgrounds differ. School social workers can contribute to youth-positive teacher support by providing teacher consultation that orients towards adolescents' developmental and support needs, and by widely advocating for the confidentiality of sensitive student information.