Impact of Training on Teacher-Student ‎ Relationship on Teachers Working with Ultra-Orthodox Students at Risk

Author(s):

Ronli Rotem(presenting / submitting)Dalia Ben Rabi(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 05 A, Preparing Teachers to Teach in Diverse Classrooms

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-24

13:30-15:00

Room:

NM-G107

Chair:

Ingrid Helleve

Contribution

The question of how to make schools into “a warm and supportive environment that lets students know that help is available”, especially for disadvantaged students and students at risk (see OECD Equity, Excellence and Inclusiveness in Education, 2014), is discussed in educational literature (Skinner et al, 2008; Ross, 2009; Fall & Roberts., 2012 ;Makarova Makarova, & Herzog 2013, Wang & Holcombe, 2010; Roorda et al, 2011) as well as in OECD documents in recent years (see also Schleicher, 2014).

This paper presents findings from the evaluation of a pilot teacher-training program, the "For You" program, for enhancing the capacity of ultra-orthodox teachers in Israel to work with students at risk, by increasing their ability to create a supportive relationship. Changes in the teachers' work are identified along with the aspects of the training which contributed to those changes.

The psycho-pedagogic approach (Mor and Luria, eds., 2014), emphasizes the potential of a supportive and sincere relationship between teachers and students as an effective tool to help students at risk. An important aspect is that teachers are not expected to succeed in "saving" the students, but to serve as an emotional "anchor" for the children, building and strengthening the relationship

The program is based on group sessions, in which teachers share their experiences of working with students at risk. Coaches are also constantly available to support them between sessions. The trainees are also taught theoretical perspectives and related practices.

"For You” is implemented at Ultra-Orthodox girls' schools in Israel. The Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel is an extremely conservative, religious segment of the Jewish population enjoying cultural and educational autonomy. The Ultra-Orthodox education system is separate from the State education system, and the children attend single sex schools (Ben-Rabi et al., 2014). A common belief among Ultra-Orthodox educators is that ignoring signs of trouble or risk displayed by students will serve the students best, since it will allow them to remain a part of the community without damage to their future, by which time the problem will have disappeared by itself. Implementation of the psycho-pedagogic approach in this context represents fundamental change in the way teachers perceive their role.

Our research question was how did the training influence the participating teachers and counselors? Did it change the way they cope with their students at-risk? And in what way?

The study used qualitative narrative methodology, in order to reflect the unique process of personal change experienced by the teachers.

A major challenge, for the teachers and coaches, as well as for the research, was to describe the new practices and their influence. That is because the practices are elusive and most of the work occurs on the emotional level.

Method

The study used qualitative narrative methodology, in order to reflect the unique process of ‎personal change experienced by the teachers.‎ Seven face-to-face narrative interviews were conducted with teachers and school counselors ‎and eight open interviews were conducted for purposes of cross-referencing the data.‎ All the interviewees had been in training for at least two years, and all had experience in ‎working with at-risk youth. ‎ The question asked in the interview was: "I would like to learn about the program through you. ‎Please tell me how the training program affected the way that you and the school cope with ‎students having difficulty or at risk." ‎ After an interviewee finished her story, she was asked questions to clarify some of the ‎information and give examples. The interviews were recorded, and transcribed. The ‎transcriptions were sent to the interviewees for approval and were all approved. Most narrative ‎interviews lasted about 90 minutes. ‎ The texts were analyzed in two ways – as complete narratives, and as categories. From the ‎analysis of the former, we learned of the meaning attributed to the training: an essential change ‎in their coping with students at-risk, which was the product of an inner process, over a sequence ‎of time. The second unit of investigation - the deconstruction of the text into sentences or ‎passages, and their re-construction by the emergent themes - shed light on more delimited ‎topics such as, "who is an at-risk student?" or "what delineates success in coping with at-risk ‎students?" The analyses, of course, are interrelated and they were conducted simultaneously. ‎The use of both analyses together made it possible to understand the distinctive components of ‎each story, of every change experienced by each teacher, vis a’ vis the common narrative ‎regarding the influence of the training program. ‎

Expected Outcomes

The findings indicate that the program created significant changes in the way teachers work ‎with students at risk, and that their new perceptions are now an integral part of their ‎educational personal worldview. For example:‎ ‎1.‎ The conception of risk was broadened and teachers now attempt to understand what they ‎call “the root of the problem” rather than relate only to the external behavioral symptoms. ‎In consequence, they develop an empathetic relationship with those students.‎ ‎2.‎ ‎ The teachers insist on relating to signs of risk or difficulties in the students' behavior ‎3.‎ The notion of success is now based on creating opportunities for the relationship to grow ‎stronger and serve as an emotional anchor for the students. ‎ The narratives of the teachers unfolded a common process containing 3 stages: A beginning ‎stage characterized by professional self-confidence and skepticism regarding the training. The ‎next stage characterized by inner-personal developments supported by the coaches; and the ‎process ended by adopting the idea that relationship with the students is an essential part of ‎helping them. ‎ The interviewees emphasized characteristics of the program that enhanced their ability to better ‎meet their students' needs:‎ ‎1.‎ The coaches served as a model of dedication and empathy ‎2.‎ They were given enough time to cope with the emotional burden arising from working ‎with students at risk ‎ ‎3.‎ A supporting relationship was established between the coaches and the teachers helping ‎the latter to overcome their own personal difficulties when working with the students.‎ Limited, as we currently are, with our ability to generalize from this small scale research, this ‎work adds to our understanding of in-depth processes that develop educators’ ability to help ‎students at risk through personal work; and of possible ways to train educators in closed ‎communities, where risk factors are discussed in a limited way.

References

Creating learning environments that address the needs of all children. OECD Equity, ‎Excellence and Inclusiveness in Education:Policy Lessons from Around the World.2014 ‎http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/equity-excellence-and-inclusiveness-in-‎education/creating-learning-environments-that-address-the-needs-of-all-‎children_9789264214033-7-en Ben-Rabi, D., Rotem, R., Konstantinov, V., & Navot, M. (2014). Mapping of methods to ‎advance low-achieving students in an ultra-orthodox (Haredi) network of schools (Ma'ayan ‎Ha'Hinuch Ha'Torani). Jerusalem: Engelberg Center for Children and Youth, Myers-JDC-‎Brookdale Institute. [Hebrew] http://brookdale.jdc.org.il/?CategoryID=192&ArticleID=336‎ Fall, A.M., Roberts, G. 2012. "High school dropouts: Interactions between social context, self-‎perception, school engagement and students dropout". Journal of Adolescence 35(4), 787-798.‎ Makarova, E., Herzog, W. 2013. "Hidden School Dropout among immigrant students: a cross-‎sectional study". Intercultural Education, 24(6), 559-572. ‎http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2013.867603‎ Mor, F.& Luria, I. eds. 2014. Psycho-dynamic Education in the school, Part A. Jerusalem: ‎Ashalim [Hebrew] ‎ Schleicher A., 2014. Equity, Excellence and Inclusiveness in Education : Policy Lessons from ‎Around the World , Pages: 112‎ Roorda, D.L., Koomen, H.M.Y., Split, J.L., Oort, F.J. 2011. "The influence of effective teacher-‎student relationship on students' school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic ‎approach". Review of educational research, Vol. 81(4), 493-529.‎ Ross, A. 2009. "Disengagement from education among 14-16 year old". National Centre for ‎Social Research. DCSF. Available at: ‎http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-RR178.pdf Skinner, E., Furrer, C., Marchand, G., Kindermann, T. 2008. "Engagement and disaffection in ‎the classroom: Part or larger motivational dynamic". Journal of Educational Psychology, ‎‎100(4), 765-781.‎ Wang, M-T., Holcombe, R. 2010. "Adolescents' of school environment, engagement, and ‎academic achievement in middle school". American Educational Research Journal, Vol 47(3), ‎‎633-662.‎

Author Information

Ronli Rotem (presenting / submitting)

Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute

Children Division

Jerusalem

Dalia Ben Rabi (presenting)

Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, Israel

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