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

研究发现，少数族裔学生与教师的关系是美国学校种族成就差距的一个驱动因素。与老师关系密切的学生在学业上表现更好。然而，与大多数学生相比，少数族裔学生与老师的关系更消极，更少关怀。这个项目探讨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起了一定的作用：拥有更多多数派学生和较高经济地位学生的学校，总体上师生关系更强，但多数学生和少数族裔学生之间的成绩差距也更大；而拥有更多少数族裔学生和较低经济地位学生的学校，总体上师生关系较弱，但差距也较小。目前的方法无法解释1)占主导地位的少数民族学校和占多数的学校在发展整体师生关系方面有何不同；2)在这些不同的环境中，多数学生和少数民族学生与教师的关系有何不同。本项目通过对一所占多数的高中和一所占少数的高中的比较民族志来解决这些关键因素。本研究将通过展示关系是如何在学校环境中形成、维持和赋予意义的，并对多数学生和少数学生产生不同的结果，从而扩大对不平等的认识。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（如刑事司法系统和工作场所）中的青年-成人关系产生影响，从而也对这些环境中的政策产生影响。该项目认为，学校有一种关系文化，包括共同的期望和实践，形成师生之间的互动。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的学校以不同的形式出现，并对学生的成绩产生重要影响。通过跨学校的比较，本项目分析：1)关系文化如何被种族化和社会阶层分化；2)关系文化如何在多数学生和少数民族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，本项目利用了八个月的日常观察和对一所白人高中和一所少数族裔高中的教师（N=40）、学生（N=96）和管理人员（N=20）的深入访谈。使用Atlas分析数据。以获得编码和主题，以捕获案例之间和案例内部的相似性和差异性。该项目的研究结果将为有关关系文化、不平等制度和组织过程的社会学理论提供信息，特别是针对少数族裔集中程度不同的组织。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.