"Together Against All Odds":
Learning from Portraits of Teachers of 'At Risk' Students

Sandra Finney, David Friesen, Caroline Krentz, Sandra Garratt, Brenda Martin, Terri Mayne and Dianne Stark

Above: Sandra Finney and David Friesen talk about their research at Learning from Practice.

The impetus for this study came from three university-based researchers working with teachers of 'at risk' students in and around Regina, Saskatchewan. They became interested in the challenges facing teachers who work with large numbers of students whose learning is affected by social barriers like poverty, racism, neglect and abuse. Through educational research, they hoped to identify realistic, successful ways for experienced and beginning teachers to meet the needs of 'at risk' students, and to identify these teaching practices without oversimplifying the complexity of classroom life. Their original idea was to produce "case studies that would illuminate the elements and qualities of classroom life and teaching practices which are supportive of the teaching of 'at risk' students." However, as a network of school-based researchers gradually helped shape the nature of the project, it evolved "from a university initiative to a mutual, trusting collaboration; from a case study methodology to narrative-based research."

In October, 1996, two introductory meetings were organized to establish a network of teacher researchers, plan the research, and allow the school-based researchers to share their stories as teachers of 'at risk' students. Seven subsequent meetings were held from November to May, in which the university-based researchers facilitated dialogue and assumed responsibility for documenting events and processes as they emerged. An average of nine school-based researchers attended the meetings, and gradually established, through conversation, narrative and interpretation, a focus for the research.

While most meetings were held after school, two half-day sessions allowed more intensive story-telling related to two central themes identified early in the project: 1) the meaning of being a teacher of large numbers of 'at risk' students, and 2) the complexities of developing effective teaching practices in this context. The school-based researchers found these themes and the stories related to them a powerful means of illuminating their experiences of teaching 'at risk' students. As a result, it was decided to develop a monograph containing teachers' stories accompanied by reflective discussions of the stories.

The focus selected for the monograph was the daily school life of teachers of 'at risk' students. The teacher members of the research network chose one school day, recorded the events of the day from beginning to end, and then shared their day at a network meeting. The time spent discussing these stories had two notable positive consequences for the teachers involved: 1) they felt they were not alone since others were describing experiences similar to their own; and 2) they recognized their own ability to survive and grow in a difficult teaching context. In the end, two stories were chosen for inclusion in the monograph, each followed by interpretations from the university-based researchers, and then further thoughts on both the stories and the interpretations by four school-based researchers. The process of negotiating the meanings of the stories provided the researchers with new insights into teaching and some common understanding of what makes for good teaching in an 'at risk' environment. The monograph also became a meaningful rendering of the sheer complexity of teaching 'at risk' students that provides a solid foundation for helpful, supportive actions.

The monograph ends with some closing thoughts from the university-based researchers:

• Teachers of 'at risk' students experience a lack of time to attend to their students' needs, a lack of communication among the agencies that should be cooperating to support these students, and a lack of support for their efforts to ensure equity in education for their students.
• Teachers of 'at risk' students typically feel that they alone must bear responsibility for the safety and well-being of their students.
• Knowing that a strong school-community connection is vital to their students' education, teachers of 'at risk' students extend their work beyond the classroom into the community.
• Teachers of 'at risk' students exude a teacher identity centred in advocacy for children.
• Teachers of 'at risk' students need a sense of hope that enables them to support their students in overcoming bleak social odds in spite of few gains and minimal progress.
• Teachers of 'at risk' students need to come together and work in the community with each other so they may be strengthened by mutual support and understanding.