Creating Connectedness Through Being Known: Fulfilling the Need to Belong in U.S. High Schools

• Published in: Youth & society 2014-05, Vol.46 (3), p.379-401
• Main Authors: Chhuon, Vichet, Wallace, Tanner LeBaron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; California; Caring; Context Effect; Developmental Tasks; Educational Environment; Focus Groups; Group Membership; High School Students; High Schools; Instructional Effectiveness; Interpersonal Relationship; Minnesota; Pennsylvania; Perceptions; Reputation; School Environment; Schools; Secondary school students; Secondary School Teachers; Secondary schools; Social psychology; Student Attitudes; Student Teacher Relationship; Students; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0044-118X; 1552-8499
• DOI: 10.1177/0044118X11436188

A multidisciplinary body of literature has established that students’ affective relationships with teachers are associated with important academic and developmental outcomes. In this article, we explored late adolescents’ active interpretations of what we call “being known” in high school. Distinct from a generalized perception of the school environment, namely, sense of school belonging, the concept of being known may provide a cohesive and efficient framework for understanding the intersections of developmental tasks, psychosocial perceptions, and effective teaching. Our focus group data with adolescents (M = 16.65 years old, N = 77) yielded three robust findings (a) moving beyond “just teach” teacher relationships; (b) providing instrumental support; and (c) engaging a benefit-of-the-doubt treatment of students. We examined each of these key themes to probe how connectedness is created or undermined through the moment-by-moment experiencing of relational structures characterized by students’ perceptions of being known by adults in an educational context.