Fostering Independence through an Academic Culture of Social Responsibility: A Grounded Theory for Engaging at-Risk Students

Background and Purpose

As social work responds to the challenge of translating evidence-based research into practice, more research is needed on how interventions can be implemented into real-world settings. Solution-focused brief therapy, an intervention that is heavily endorsed by social work, is effective in addressing academic issues and behavioral and emotional problems among at-risk students. As school social workers are a limited and much needed commodity, teachers are on the front lines to detect and prevent student emotional and behavioral distress. More knowledge is crucial in understanding how teachers trained in evidence-based approaches, like SFBT, communicate with students in order to promote academic progress and student well-being. This paper explains the decision-making process of alternative high school teachers working with at-risk youth and the crucial role of context in intervention implementation.

Methods

The study was driven by the qualitative approach of grounded theory and the constant comparative method of analysis.  Data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously to generate an emerging theory about how teachers maintain at-risk students in the classroom. Ten teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected through purposeful and theoretical sampling from a solution-focused alternative education high school in the United States southwest. Participants included seven female and three male teachers; two teachers identified as both White and Latino, one as Eastern European, one as African, and six identified as only White. The teachers had varying years of experience and minimal mental health training. Theoretical saturation was reached after the ninth interview; two additional interviews were conducted and analyzed without discovery of new themes. Transcribed interviews were coded across several stages in order to identify over-aching themes and the core process.

Findings

Data analysis demonstrated how the teachers maintained at-risk students in the classroom. Specifically, teachers fostered students’ independence by modeling effective problem solving and communication skills within a school community that evoked social responsibility. The process allowed for the teachers to build strong relationships with their students in the school environment, and the school context served as a foundation for addressing both academic and emotional issues that arose in the classroom. Teacher values, the interpersonal network between teachers and students, and the SFBT approach interacted with and promoted student problem-solving process that was initiated by the teacher.   

Conclusions and Implications

 These findings suggest that a solution-focused teaching environment may encourage teachers to be more cognizant of their decision-making and their interactions with students. They also emphasize the significant role that values-driven context plays when implementing youth interventions. Thus, these findings demonstrate the importance of cultivating and leading a collegial base that is dedicated to fostering youth independence with a socially responsible environment. As social workers continue to promote systems-focused implementation science, this type of environment may provide a foundation for developing specific interventions that target teen risky behaviors.