Investigating the Teacher's Role in the Effectiveness of Contextually Sensitive Affirmation Interventions in the Classroom

• In Event: Innovative Interventions in Social and Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Affirmation interventions want to buttress students’ self, ameliorate the effects of stereotype threat and the ethnic (racial) achievement gap. Although positive effects prevail, many studies report mixed or null findings. The mechanisms of affirmation interventions, including the teachers’ role, need to be further investigated to provide educators with information on the implementation in their classrooms. The present study finds almost no general effects of the intervention on students’ academic self-efficacy in German high schools, yet the intervention seems beneficial to those students who report a weaker relationship to their teacher prior to the intervention. The present results contribute to the understanding for whom the intervention can be effective; fitting the theoretical assumption that affirmations are most beneficial for threatened students.

Authors

• Zuzanna M. Preusche, University of Duisburg-Essen
  Presenting Author

• Kerstin Goebel, University of Duisburg-Essen
  Non-Presenting Author