Doctoral Dissertation Research: Relational Cultures, Inequality and Belonging: Race, Class and Teacher-Student Relationships in Two U.S. High Schools

博士论文研究：关系文化、不平等和归属感：美国两所高中的种族、阶级和师生关系

• 批准号: 2001906
• 负责人: Allison Pugh
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-04-01 至 2021-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2001906&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Relational; Cultures

Research identifies minority students’ relationships with teachers as one driver of racial achievement gaps in American schools. Students with strong teacher relationships perform better academically. However, minority students experience more negative and less caring relationships with teachers than majority peers. This project addresses the social processes producing these racial disparities in teacher-student relationships. A growing body of research suggests the race and class composition of schools plays a role: schools with more majority and higher SES students have stronger teacher-student relationships overall but also wider achievement gaps between majority and minority students while schools with more minority and lower SES students have weaker relationships overall but also less disparity. Current approaches cannot explain 1) how predominantly minority and majority schools differ in developing teacher-student relationships overall and 2) how majority and minority students’ relationships with teachers vary within these differing environments. This project addresses these crucial factors through a comparative ethnography of a predominantly majority high school and a predominantly minority high school. This study will expand knowledge of inequality by showing how relationships are formed, maintained, and given meaning in school environments with varying outcomes for majority and minority students. The project will inform the design and implementation of educational reforms through identifying specific school-and classroom-level mechanisms that either support or constrain the development of teacher-student relationships. While focusing on relational cultures and inequality in schools, this project also has implications for youth-adult relationships in other organizational settings, such as in the criminal justice system and the workplace, thus implicating policies in these settings, as well. This project argues that schools have a relational culture, encompassing shared expectations and practices shaping interactions between teachers and students. The project analyzes how seemingly equivalent relationships between teachers and students can take varying forms in different schools with important implications for student outcomes. Through comparing across schools, this project analyzes: 1) how relational cultures are racialized and differentiated by social class, 2) how relational cultures produce differences in majority and minority students’ relationships with teachers, and 3) how students' relationships with teachers impact their school experience and outcomes. To address these questions, this project utilizes eight months of daily observations and in-depth interviews with teachers (N=40), students (N=96), and administrators (N=20) at one majority white high school and one majority-minority high school. Data are analyzed using Atlas.TI to derive coding and themes capturing the similarities and differences across and within the cases. Findings from the project will inform sociological theories regarding relational cultures, inequality regimes, and organizational processes, particularly for organizations varying in majority-minority concentration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

研究发现，少数族裔学生与教师的关系是美国学校种族成绩差距的驱动因素之一。与老师关系密切的学生在学业上表现更好。然而，少数族裔学生与老师的关系比大多数同龄人更消极、更不关心。该项目解决了在师生关系中产生这些种族差异的社会过程。越来越多的研究表明，学校的种族和班级构成发挥着重要作用：拥有较多少数族裔和较高社会经济地位学生的学校总体上师生关系较强，但多数族裔学生和少数族裔学生之间的成绩差距也较大，而拥有较多少数族裔和较低社会经济地位学生的学校总体关系较弱，但差距也较小。目前的方法无法解释 1) 少数族裔主导学校和多数族裔学校在发展师生关系方面有何不同；2) 在这些不同的环境中，多数族裔和少数族裔学生与教师的关系有何不同。该项目通过对一所占多数的高中和一所占少数的高中进行比较民族志来解决这些关键因素。这项研究将通过展示关系如何在学校环境中形成、维持和赋予意义，从而扩大对不平等的认识，从而为多数学生和少数学生带来不同的结果。该项目将通过确定支持或限制师生关系发展的具体学校和课堂层面的机制，为教育改革的设计和实施提供信息。在关注学校中的关系文化和不平等的同时，该项目也对其他组织环境中的青年与成人关系产生影响，例如刑事司法系统和工作场所，从而也影响了这些环境中的政策。该项目认为，学校拥有一种关系文化，包含共同的期望和实践，塑造师生之间的互动。该项目分析了教师和学生之间看似平等的关系如何在不同学校采取不同的形式，对学生的学习成绩产生重要影响。通过跨学校比较，本项目分析：1）关系文化如何因社会阶层而种族化和区分；2）关系文化如何在多数和少数学生与教师的关系中产生差异；3）学生与教师的关系如何影响他们的学校经历和成果。为了解决这些问题，该项目对一所白人占多数的高中和一所少数民族占多数的高中的教师（N = 40）、学生（N = 96）和管理人员（N = 20）进行了八个月的日常观察和深入访谈。使用 Atlas.TI 分析数据，以得出编码和主题，捕捉案例之间和案例内部的相似点和差异。 该项目的研究结果将为有关关系文化、不平等制度和组织流程的社会学理论提供信息，特别是对于多数与少数集中程度不同的组织。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。