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.

研究确定少数族裔学生与老师的关系是美国学校种族成就差距的一个驱动力。具有牢固教师关系的学生在学术上表现更好。但是，少数族裔学生与大多数同龄人的负面关系更多，与教师的关怀更少。该项目解决了在教师关系中产生这些种族分布的社会过程。越来越多的研究表明，学校的种族和阶级组成扮演着角色：多数和更高的SES学生的学校总体上具有更强的教师关系，但在多数学生和少数族裔学生之间的成就差距也很大，而SES学生的整体和较低的SES学生的关系总体较弱，但差异较小。当前的方法无法解释1）在整体发展教师关系方面，主要和多数学校的主要少数和多数学校的不同以及多数群体学生与教师的关系在这些不同的环境中如何有所不同。该项目通过对多数高中和主要少数族裔高中的比较人种志来解决这些关键因素。这项研究将通过展示如何在学校环境中形成，维持关系并赋予对多数和少数族裔学生的结果各不相同的含义来扩大对不平等的知识。该项目将通过确定支持或限制教师关系的发展的特定学校和课堂级别机制来告知教育改革的设计和实施。该项目专注于学校的关系文化和不平等，但对其他组织环境（例如刑事司法系统和工作场所）中的青年关系也具有影响，从而在这些环境中也暗示了政策。该项目认为，学校有一种关系文化，涵盖了共同的期望和实践，从而塑造了教师与学生之间的互动。该项目分析了教师和学生之间看似等效的关系如何在不同的学校中采取不同形式，对学生的成绩具有重要意义。通过在整个学校进行比较，该项目分析：1）关系文化如何通过社会阶层进行种族歧视和区分，2）关系文化如何在多数群体和少数族裔学生与老师的关系中产生差异，以及3）学生与老师的关系如何影响他们的学校经验和成果。为了解决这些问题，该项目利用了八个月的每日观察和对教师（n = 40），学生（n = 96）和管理员（n = 20）的深入访谈，并在一所主要的白人高中和一所主要最少的高中。使用ATLAS.TI分析数据以得出编码，并在案例中和范围内捕获相似性和差异。该项目的发现将为社会学理论提供有关关系文化，不平等制度和组织过程的信息，尤其是对于以多数级少数方面的注意力而变化而变化的组织。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来通过评估而被视为珍贵的支持。