0.8 Mirci, p., loomis, c., & Hensley, p. (september 2011). social  (Page 11/19)

Self and others

This category involved one’s sense of belonging to one or more groups. Belonging has included one’s status within the groups, which can differ. A person may have high status membership in some groups and low status membership in others. This happens simultaneously. Sense of belonging within groups impacts motivation to learn (Marzano, 1998). Examination of this category was limited to relationships between the participants and their teachers. Supportive teachers tended to promote an inclusive environment. Teachers who blamed students for not understanding the academic subjects tended to create exclusionary environments.

Participants perceived themselves as having low status in terms of the role of student regarding relationships with teachers at the comprehensive high school. Each student was cognizant of the qualitative difference in responses and feedback from different teachers. The behavior of educators influenced student perceptions of self in negative and positive ways. Beth described negative relationships with teachers,

My Mom died and most of my teachers knew it but did not express any sympathy. It seemed to me that my personal tragedy did not matter to them at all. It was the darkest time in my life. I felt my heart ripped from inside of me. My teachers did not reach out to me.

Peter recognized that being labeled “at-risk” seemed to automatically relegate him to being a low status group membership,

Because I was labeled “at-risk,” my teachers treated me differently. I noticed they did not spend as much time with me as those doing well. One teacher gave paper extensions to other students, but did not cut me any slack. I felt that I was less important than other students because I was “at-risk.” The teachers gave up on me and judged me because I was not on track to graduate.

Tyrone indicated his perception of experiences of being singled out by teachers as a way of undermining his relationships with other students: “My teachers would sometimes make me do things aloud just because they know I wasn’t good at it. They saw that making me do it out loud would embarrass me. It made relating to others difficult.” Kathy shared about being treated differently based on degrees of success: “Teachers were more personal with successful students and they spent more time working with them. They wanted relationships with their better students.” Jamie felt as if his low status in the group made attempts to interact with his teachers difficult: “I was not able to talk to my teachers about things. So I usually failed. When I knew I was going to fail I skipped going to classes. I gave up hope.”

In one environment these students were in low status academic groups. They had not control over their relationships with negative teachers. They transferred to a different school culture and began shifting their self-beliefs from hopelessness and despair to the potential to succeed. This led to perceptions of all participants that they were in an inclusive environment beyond labeling. They began to gain a positive sense of self and others. Jose stated that sense of belonging was based on positive relationships with teachers: “I think that teachers showed they wanted by have a relationship with you because they were genuinely interested in what was going on in your life. These teachers genuinely cared.” Kathy described the power of relationships with positive teachers: “They were with me on a personal level. We discussed what I needed to do and they worked to help me finish successfully.” Rosa revealed relationships with caring teachers transcended simply interacting on the basis of academics: “Even if you needed help with your personal life you could talk to them, they were there.” Jaime echoed similar sentiments regarding the quality of relationships: “I was cared about as a person. Adults wanted to know who you were as a person. They actually cared to know you.”