LISTEN, REFLECT, ACT: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH STUDY TO SUPPORT FIRST-GENERATION EARLY COLLEGE STUDENTS USING STORYTELLING

Abstract

First-generation early college high school students have many needs when they walk into a classroom; therefore, determining how to help them achieve academic success is critical. This participatory action research study examined how teachers learned to listen, reflect, and act on students' stories to form relationships with students, which permitted teachers to become warm demanders. I analyzed data collected from community learning exchanges, interviews, reflective memos, meeting notes, and storytelling protocols over 18 months. I used an iterative coding and analysis process to determine trends and confirm conclusions. I verified the three findings through triangulation of the data and member checks. First, teachers needed to empower students to share their personal stories to support teachers in formulating relationships with their students. Teachers utilized protocols to help students reveal their stories. Next, teachers needed to engage students' stories by reflecting upon what they learned and determining the place and space where the information should impact learning. Finally, teachers needed to enhance student experiences by utilizing the information learned about the students from their stories to act and provide culturally responsive experiences for students. The study highlighted how cultivating student-teacher relationships was not a skill every teacher knew how to create professionally. As a result, implications for practice, policy, and research support why teachers need professional learning to cultivate these skills, policies to allow the protected time to build relationships, and research to further this work for teachers and students.