ashleycoxliteraturereview
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Establishing Trust
Exploring Deep & Meaningful Relationships in a Middle School Art Classroom
Ashley Cox
University of Missouri Summer 2015
Kathy Unrath
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Abstract
The following proposal is to examine the research question: How are deep and meaningful relationships
established to build trust in a middle school art classroom? By using this research question we will be
examining classroom culture, trust, and those critical moments in positive studentteacher relationships. We
will be using a phenomenological study however, I have not identified a theory that correlates directly with
my framework. Through this process we will be using a three layered system to identify the key points while
using qualitative data such as detailed field notes, journaling and blogging about the conditions and
changes of the classroom, and using the iPad to record the classroom and eventually interviewing the
students.
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Establishing Trust
Exploring Deep & Meaningful Relationships in a Middle School Art Classroom
One thing in particular that has always stuck out to me in education are those little moments of
magic. Specifically regarding those moments you walk into another teachers classroom and you are able to
witness those magical moments occurring; when the students are fully engaged and enthralled with their
work, the teacher has a soft presence of authority without the slightest notion of being overbearing or
demanding, and you feel that positive energy of learning occurring. Now, when I first started thinking about
this topic, aside from the word magic, I’ve always considered that “feeling” as the classroom culture.
Classroom culture as a topic for research is excruciatingly much too large without focusing in on the
small portions that make up what I like to call those “magic moments” that exist within classroom culture.
Therefore, after further discussion with my colleagues we were able to focus in on what I would be highly
interested in researching which would be: How are deep and meaningful relationships established to build
trust in an art classroom? I feel like we talk about those moments quite frequently because that’s what
makes up the good qualities of a teacher. The purpose of the study is to dive further into how these sacred
relationships are established and what is being done by the teacher or the students to propel their rope of
trust and vulnerability in the art classroom. I plan to collect data from my own personal teaching by printing
off previous blog posts about my classroom, describing my reflective thought process with the relationships
I have with my students, and potentially receiving information from one of my preservice teachers to have
an alternative viewpoint of an "outsider looking in". Gathering and collecting this data along with furthering
my research will result in answers as to how we formulate these deep and meaningful relationships that
establish trust in an art classroom.
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Statement of the Problem
One of the main reasons as to why I wanted to investigate my research question was because I
want to better understand my students where they are at. At the Middle School age level they are beyond
afraid of putting themselves out there to be noticed or are doing absolutely everything to be the center of
attention which means you have more personality then you know what to do with. The typical Middle School
students have a hard time being understood because they aren’t the babies but aren’t yet adults or have
the ability to be solely independent which leaves them frustrated.
Purpose of the Study
One of the issues that I was encountering when beginning to do my research was the fact that the
amount of Middle School Art research is minimal. I was finding how to perform certain projects but nothing
that directly correlated with my topic. I think one of the main reasons this occurred is because in every state
the age group of “Middle Schoolers” varies between grades fourth through ninth, which makes it really
difficult to narrow down. Therefore, I want to bring more information to those who are interested in middle
school art students by identifying the key factors in the relationship between middle school students and the
art teacher. I am also wanting to understand how and exactly when deep and meaningful relationships are
being established to build trust. I believe that gaining more knowledge of these phenomenons will lead to
better success rates within the middle school art classroom which in turn will build stronger relationships
between the middle school art teacher and their student. Therefore the significance of the problem is a
need to captivate the Middle School audience/clientele, further understanding of pivotal moments of trust in
the art classroom, and to create a space where students feel heard and appreciated.
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Research Question
For the purpose of this study the following question and subquestions where used to refer back to
the purpose of our study:
1. How are deep and meaningful relationships established to build trust in the Middle School Art
classroom?
a. How are positive studentteacher relationships established?
b. What factors are necessary to build trust?
c. What does trust look like in an art classroom?
While conducting my research I found an article written by Alexandria Griffin who conducted a full year of
qualitative research to better understand how teacherstudent relationships are developed in a middle
school classroom. Within her article in the portion where it has the analysis I also appreciated how she
asked the following questions: "How is caring instantiated in a middle school classroom? How does caring
create a sense of community in the middle school classroom? How does a caring teacherstudent
relationships compensate for other aspects of school? How do students perceive teachers show they care
about them?" (Griffin). I feel that the questions that this researcher is asking is in direct proportion of what I
would like to conduct in my line of research.
Definition of Terms
The following terms where closely examined through the duration of this research to direct and
better understand the significance of the study.
1. Positive studentteacher relationships: The academic relationship between teachers and students
in a positive manner.
2. Trust: “Belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, and effective.” (Webster).
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3. Classroom Culture: Is the environment of the classroom that consists of trust and acceptance in a
“safe space”.
4. Interpersonal Relationships: Interpersonal Relationships consist of close associations between
two or more people over any duration of time.
Theoretical Framework & Methodology
This research will be considered a phenomenological study which means that I will be looking at
those specific phenomenons that occur when trust is being established. I will set up my study in three
different layers. Within the first layer I will pick one class per week where I will conduct a longitudinal study
over the course of the semester to analyze. In the second layer I will identify pivotal moments in the
behavior and mannerisms of the middle school art student. Finally, in the third layer I will personally VTS
the recordings and will invite students to have conversations about the occurrences within the classroom.
Like mentioned previously, I have not identify a theory that correlates directly with my framework but am
closely associated in thinking with Parker Palmer, John Dewey, and Christopher Uhl. Specifically, Parker
Palmer’s own beliefs in community building and education were relevant to my own personal exploration of
this topic.
Literature Review
Throughout my studies there was a reoccuring theme of not having enough information on
specifically the middle school art room. Therefore, it was necessary to focus on a more full rounded
approach when conducting my research.
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Classroom Culture
Considering that we are discussing at great lengths the classroom culture we are bound to discuss
positive studentteacher relationships which is a large component of the classroom culture. Melissa
Newberry is the first researcher that I have come across that identifies four major phases in positive
studentteacher relationships which include attunement, relatedness, supportiveness, and gentle discipline.
Newberry states that when all four of these phases occur that’s when you captivate the students attention. I
appreciate that Newberry’s data was developed within the year of 2007 and 2008 revealing more modern
viewpoints of studentteacher relationships and how they are affected by the 21st century.
Another researcher that uses the same idea is Kauffman. Kauffman discusses how even though
we have research on building positive studentteacher relationships we don't have as much perspective
from a student's point of view.Kauffman discusses how a "student is more willing to take risks and put in the
effort that learning requires when these elements are present." (Kauffman) referring to the elements of
positive studentteacher relationships. Through this promotion of positive studentteacher relationships
results in "...expansion of respectful, positive relationships that engage students in the learning process and
create conditions for higher achievement." (Kauffman)
Building Trust
Building trust within any classroom is crucial so researching articles that discussed building trust
was crucial. Within the article written by Jennifer Duval I quickly realized that she discusses the core source
of my research desires about the Middle School classroom with the exception of not focusing on the Middle
School art classroom. Duval discusses how positive teacherstudent relationships lead to better student
behavior which positively affects classroom management and ultimately allows the teacher to give their
students new opportunities that engages the student to a higher level. Duval discusses the importance for
teachers to know each of their students individually and to be interested and truly have care and concern in
their school life and life outside of school. Knowing that the teachers cared about them (the student)
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resulted in a higher work ethic and progress in their coursework. Later on in the article it cited research by
Eccles where it states that "the quality of student/teacher relationships is associated with students'
academic motivation and attitudes toward school." Being able to make yourself vulnerable as the teacher
and having the students understand that you deeply care about them results in relationship and trust
building.
Thinking Like a Boss
As far fetched as it might seem when conducting my research I kept seeing how to establish trust
in a business setting. After furthering my understanding of their content I realized that as a teacher I need to
be thinking like a boss, but not acting like one, selling my content, and getting to know my students. Using
the strategies of law firm employees might seem like a stretch when compared to a middle school art
classroom the logistics are relatively the same. Middle School art teachers should be providing their
students with skills and motivational tools that stem from the teachers genuine desire to be teaching the
content and age group.
The article discusses how there are four major steps to "engage and retain top clients" and in this
case comparing "top clients" to our typical middle school art students. They began by asking their clients
what they needed to improve on and worded it as such "identify needs that were not being met". From here
they then provided their clients with those particular needs that they needed to improve upon which
resulted in a higher engagement rate and best possible service. After identifying the issues at hand the
article discusses how learning as much as possible about each of the clients and taking the time to meet
and greet with each and every one is highly important. They then suggest adjusting your priorities every
year. I believe that in teaching this is equally as important because it doesn't allow us to become lazy and
challenges our artist teacher self to become more invested, involved, and challenged. (Stock).
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Research Design
Like mentioned previously this phenomenological study will be a conducted over the course of the semester
therefore, I will have a need to record the data using the following instruments.
Instrumentation
iPad
I will be using the iPad to record the classroom as a second hand witness to those trust building
phenomenons are occurring. It will also be used as a resource to review the content that it captured and as
a way to evaluate what’s occurring within the classroom. At a later date the students and myself will VTS
the video interactions to further our understanding of what’s occurring within the art classroom that helps
with trust building.
Journal/Blogging
I will be writing in my journal to discuss those impromptu moments that are occurring in the art
classroom that I feel are resulting in trust building. I will eventually be using my journal notes to blog about
how I felt like the classroom time went and will compare that to the video of the actual class. Creating this
compare and contrast will help me better analyze those pivotal moments and help me understand familiar
mannerisms and behavior recurrences of the students.
Data Collection & Analysis Procedures
Using the data collection instruments will allow for me to naturally analyze the procedures and form
opinions on whether I feel as though the research is being conducted successfully or not. Specially using
the iPad will result in authentic interactions with the students where I’m able to witness and review
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continously those moments (body language, discussions with other students, relationships occurring at their
tables, etc etc.) with the art room.
Protection of Human Rights
At the beginning of this study I will be reviewing and using the information solely for myself
therefore it will not be necessary to obtain consent from the students and parents of those students.
However, if I would in fact publish my findings I would then need to obtain parental and student consent to
use the studies findings in order to publish them.
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References
Duval, J. (1999). Fostering positive teacherstudent relationships at the middle school level Foote, D. J. (2008). Building positive student-teacher relationships through middle school advisory programs (Order No. 3302564). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. (304661679). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304661679?accountid=14576 Griffin, A. M. B. (1998). Locating caring teacherstudent relationships in the middle school classroom Fritscher-Porter, K. (2004). Relationship building. OfficePro, 64(2), 12-15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/209893620?accountid=14576 Kauffman, T. R. (2013). Middle school students' lived experiences of teacher relationship impact. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1462886359?accountid=14576 Newberry, M. (2010). Identified phases in the building and maintaining of positive teacher–student relationships.Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(8), 16951703. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.022 Susan Scott. (2011). Tackle challenges and build relationships using tools for meaningful conversations. Journal of Staff Development, 32(3), 68. Stock, R. G. (2004, 05). A meaningful relationship. National, 13, 55. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196554490?accountid=14576 Wentzel, K. R. (1998). Social relationships and motivation in middle school: The role of parents, teachers, and peers.Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(2), 202209. doi:10.1037/00220663.90.2.202