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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0242-8695

AccessType

Campus-Only Access for Five (5) Years

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

School Psychology

Year Degree Awarded

2021

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Sara Whitcomb

Second Advisor

Sarah Fefer

Third Advisor

Christina Metevier

Fourth Advisor

Linda Griffin

Subject Categories

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Curriculum and Instruction | School Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to explore Hispanic/Latinx students’ perspectives about cultural, personal, and professional characteristics and behaviors of teachers who they build connections to, and b) to look at the factors and practices that teachers rely on that facilitate and hinder the process of building school connectedness in Hispanic/Latinx students. Participants included seven Hispanic/Latinx students and five teachers who students identified as feeling “the most connected to” and who are working with them in a middle school in the Northeastern part of Massachusetts. Data were collected from individual interviews with Hispanic/Latinx students and their teachers, descriptive field notes, and researcher journal. The data were analyzed by following steps of Groenewald's (2004) analysis that previously were described by Hycner (1999) as explicitation process. Empirically, there are few studies that explore perspectives about school connectedness from the perspective of both Hispanic/Latinx students and their teachers. The intent of this qualitative study is to close this gap in the literature. This study, therefore, provides a rich picture of how Hispanic/Latinx students connect to teachers and how these teachers structure their work or use their personal and professional resources to build and promote the feeling of connectedness among their students.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/22054529

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