Engaging Black and Latinx Students Through Communal Learning Opportunities: A Relevance Intervention for Middle Schoolers

• In Event: Race-Reimaging Motivation in Education Research: Investigating Motivation Through Racialized and Cultural Perspectives

Abstract

Objectives
Bridging theoretical perspectives from teacher education and educational psychology, we designed a research-practice partnership to unpack the concept of relevance from a race-reimaged perspective. Specifically, we employed a mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design to examine associations between the communal learning opportunities afforded to Black and Latinx middle school students, and their engagement patterns during STEM activities.

Theoretical Perspectives
Building on research examining linkages between teacher instructional practices and student engagement (Turner et al., 2014) as well as scholarship examining teachers’ cultural expression in the classroom (Boykin et al., 2005), we introduce the term teacher motivational support for communal learning opportunities to describe how teachers’ use of pedagogical techniques support students’ understanding of when, where, and why academic learning material has relevance to serving their community, serving humanity, and serving one-another. Scholars argue that the roles of curriculum and instruction are largely ignored by educational psychologists who study concepts such as meaning, relevance, and utility value (Brophy, 2008). The same has been said of educational psychologists who fail to consider culture and race in motivation research (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2014; Zusho & Clayton, 2010). We address these concerns by describing how teachers intentionally use curriculum and instruction to intervene on and address issues of cultural relevance.

Method
Within a nine-week Design and Modeling instructional unit we provided students (N = 98) six opportunities to rate their scholastic activities, and we observed each teacher’s classroom (N = 4) six times. Classroom observations facilitated our efforts to create state space grids that show when and how teachers used emancipatory pedagogies to support students’ learning. We used these state space grids, along with teacher interviews and student focus groups, to develop contextualized illustrations of teachers of color as they successfully provided communal forms of motivational support.

Results
Results of a within-person multilevel model revealed that high levels of student-reported behavioral engagement were sustained over the course of the instructional unit. On weeks when students rated the activities as higher in communal affordances, they also reported more behavioral engagement.
Observations, interview, and focus group findings revealed that teachers’ use of strategies for communal learning opportunities differed based on three key factors: where the lesson was placed within the larger instructional unit, the way teachers interpreted and responded to their students’ engagement patterns, and how the demands of the larger school environment impacted classroom dynamics.

Significance
Our study expands the reach of expectancy-value theory by outlining cultural and classroom dimensions that are crucial for providing motivational support to student of color. Some mainstream utility value interventions require students to self-generate reasons why academic material is useful to them. Yet without some scaffolding, students may not have the experience or expertise to recognize the utility of scholastic material (Brophy, 2008). This study underscores the key role of the teacher in students’ perceptions of relevance—one whose tactical use of academic material and pedagogical techniques helps students extract meaning from academic content.

Authors

• DeLeon Gray, Black and Belonging

• Tamika McElveen, North Carolina State University

• Lauren H. Bryant, North Carolina State University

• Briana Green, Michigan State University