Poster #24 - Home-school Value Discrepancies and Teacher-student Relationships: Differences Between Adolescents with Immigrant or Non-immigrant Backgrounds

• In Event: Poster Session 05

Abstract

Importance: Adolescents with an immigrant background, whether first- (born in a foreign country) or second-generation (born in host country from first-generation parents), face many challenges that can threaten their mental health and well-being. Thus, understanding how to mitigate these challenges is a priority. One important stumbling block is the ability to navigate amongst different value systems. During late adolescence, tasks such as the construction of a system of values and of ethical principles are central to adolescent development (Hurrelmann & Quenzel, 2018). When discrepancies between home and school values exist, the ability of adolescents to achieve these developmental tasks can be affected, potentially jeopardizing their positive development (Steinberg, 2017). Value discrepancies are differences that parents and teachers have regarding social roles, norms, and expectations, based on their cultural backgrounds (Hwang, 2006). They may vary in terms of nature (themes involved), diversity (number of themes for which differences are observed), and intensity (magnitude of home-school value differences) (Makarova & Birman, 2018). Authors suggest that cultural markers such as student language and ethno-cultural background feed the perceptions that teachers have of students, and the relationships they develop with them (Spilt & Hughes, 2015). However, the extent to which home-school value discrepancies undermine closeness and warmth between students and teachers is not well understood. Positive student-teacher relationships have a strong impact on the academic success and the personal development of students; even more so for minority students (Archambault et al., 2017; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2009). Hence, it is essential to gain a greater understanding of the impact of home-school value discrepancies on student-teacher relationships.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the nature of home-school value discrepancies as perceived by students of first-, second-, and third-plus-generation (youth and parents were born in Canada). This study also examined whether home-school value discrepancies were associated with closeness in student-teacher relationships, and if differences appeared as a function of student generational status.
Method: The sample consisted of 1,551 first-, second- and third-plus-generation students (56.9% girls) from grades 10 to 11 attending eight different high schools in the province of Quebec (Canada). Participating students completed an in-class survey. Chi-square tests and ANOVAs were used to compare groups, while hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to test direct and indirect associations.
Results: Table 1 shows that first- and second-generation students generally perceived more diverse and intense home-school value discrepancies than third-plus-generation students. Second-generation students also perceived sharing fewer close relationships with their teachers and more home-school differences on distinct spheres of their life (i.e., autonomy and liberty, life success, male/female differences, and importance of religion) than first- and third-plus-generation students respectively. Results of the hierarchical linear regressions (Table 2) show that less intense value discrepancies were associated with closer relationships with teachers. No association was found between value discrepancy diversity and this outcome.
Conclusion: Results highlight differences in the perception of value discrepancies as well as their links with student-teacher relationships for first-, second- and third-plus-generation students. Implications for research, practice and policies are presented.

Authors

• Corinne Hébert, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author

• Isabelle Archambault, University of Montreal

• Julie Goulet, University of Montreal

• Kristel Tardif-Grenier, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)