Teacher Support and Life Satisfaction

Student Well-Being and Teacher Support

One area related to teacher–student relationships that has become a recent focus in the literature concerns the association between these relationships and the subjective well-being (SWB) of students. SWB, or happiness, has been defined as, “individuals’ cognitive and affective evaluations of their lives” (Diener, 2000, p. 34). As noted, perceived level of SWB is considered a positive marker of mental health functioning with demonstrated associations to positive life outcomes (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2009). Life satisfaction (LS), the cognitive component of SWB, reflects level of contentment with life; conceptually and operationally, LS has been defined as, “ . . . a cognitive, global appraisal that people make when considering their contentment with their life as a whole or in regard to specific domains of life such as family, environment, friends and self” (Suldo, Riley, & Shaffer, 2006, p. 568).

Estimates of LS are typically obtained through an individual’s report regarding quality of life in relationship to primary family members, aspects of daily settings in which she or he interacts, and peer associations. While SWB is comprised of three aspects (i.e., LS, positive emotions, and negative emotions), LS is considered the most stable of the three components, particularly for research purposes with youth (Suldo et al., 2006). Assessment of LS in school settings is the subject of a growing body of literature; not only is LS significantly related to academic functioning (Huebner et al., 2004; Suldo et al., 2006), perceived LS is an established indicator of overall “wellness” or positive functioning, a critical component of the mental health of youth (Long, Huebner, Wedell, & Hill, 2012; Stewart & Suldo, 2011). Given the established link between LS and emotional health and wellness, investigations focused on these constructs represent a critical area for research within the context of school settings (Suldo & Shaffer, 2008; Veenhoven, 1988). Youth spend approximately 30% of their total time per week at school (Institute of Education Sciences, 2004); evaluation of perceived support from this setting represents an important resource that can potentially be tapped to provide direction for augmenting student functioning.

Research has indicated that LS of youth is inconsistently or only modestly related to demographic variables such as race, socioeconomic status, gender, and age (Gilman & Huebner, 1997; Huebner, Drane, &Valois, 2000). In contrast, statistically significant relationships between positive life experiences, particularly daily life events, and higher levels of LS have been demonstrated. Most importantly, the effect of ongoing experiences has been shown to be more significantly related to level of LS (Huebner & Gilman, 2003) than acute, crisis events (Huebner & Gilman, 2003). This finding contrasts a more traditional intervention focus in schools that concentrates services toward crises events; results from LS research have suggested the need for an orientation on positive factors in addition to those that are ostensibly negative.

Student Perceptions and Teacher Support

Based on Tardy’s (1985) comprehensive model, the study of social support must include not only the context of support, that is, from whom support is received, evaluation must also include information about perceptions of types of support received. Within this conceptualization as applied to teacher support, student perceptions of expressions of care, helping behaviors, provision of feedback, and/or the offering of advice from teachers must be included as part of a complete assessment of perceived support. Perceptions of social support, or the degree to which one perceives being cared for by others in a variety of daily life settings, play an important role in supporting wellness and buffering against psychological distress (Malecki & Demarray, 2006); thus, evaluating student perceptions of social support from teachers, again, has important applied ramifications.

Several researchers have investigated specific teacher behaviors students perceive as caring and supportive (Adler, 2002; Malecki & Demaray, 2003; Paulson & Everall, 2001; Richman et al., 1998; Suldo et al., 2009). In reference to teacher behaviors, Adler (2002) found that a sample of adolescents identified specific behavioral characteristics common in teachers perceived as caring; these characteristics included being strict, holding high expectations for student achievement, and encouraging students to complete assigned work. Students further described caring teachers as those who assisted them in meeting set expectations by teaching students to understand course content, answering student questions regarding assigned work, helping students with any academic difficulties, providing specific feedback regarding completed student work, and communicating individually with students. Data collected as part of the Teen Suicide Research Project (Paulson & Everall, 2001) further supported the importance of supportive teacher behaviors for “at-risk” adolescents. Participants noted that teachers’ interactions with them significantly affected their psychological functioning. Specifically, students stated that teacher acceptance and feeling listened to by teachers affected feelings of self-efficacy and worth. Noted research emphasizes student perceptions of support offered via teacher relationships and further highlights the impact of teacher support on students’ academic achievement and mental health.

Malecki and Demaray (2003) and Richman et al. (1998) extended research regarding student perceptions of support and investigated specific types to determine whether different characteristics had a stronger relationship or association with adolescents’ academic, behavioral, and social outcomes. Malecki and Demaray (2003) found that students perceived informational support to be the most important type of teacher support, regardless of gender or age. Other researchers (Richman et al., 1998) found similar teacher behaviors to be perceived as supportive by students. Higher levels of perceived teacher support in the form of advice-giving and information improved school outcomes for their sample. Such support resulted in higher levels of school satisfaction, higher grades, better attendance, more time studying on weeknights, lower levels of problematic behavior, and higher ratings of prosocial behavior for students. In addition to positive school outcomes, student mental health is also affected by teacher support. Reddy et al. (2003) found a positive association between perceived teacher support and student reported levels of depression and self-esteem in middle school students. Given that the role teacher support played appeared less associated with emotional functioning as age/grade increased, this result contrasts findings indicating that these demographic factors are not moderators of results.

Information from the foregoing research provides consistent support for the critical role teachers play, based on student perceptions, in affecting emotional functioning. While teacher support was the focus of these studies, the type of support was not consistently identified or defined. Suldo et al. (2009) attempted to investigate the relationship between more specifically defined types of teacher support and middle school students’ self-reported levels of SWB. Students completed the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; Huebner, 1991), Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C; Laurent et al., 1999), and Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, & Elliott, 2004) to assess their global LS, affect, and perceived social support, respectively. Ratings for global LS and affect were combined to represent students’ levels of SWB. All correlations between students’ SWB and various types of teacher social support were statistically significant. Multiple regression analyses further indicated that two of the four types of teacher support assessed (emotional and instrumental support) uniquely predicted students’ SWB. This suggests that student perceptions of teacher behaviors such as expressions of care and provision of needed materials, respectively, were significantly associated with well-being. No gender differences were found. These results differed from those from Malecki and Demaray (2003) in which Information, or the provision of advice and feedback, was identified as the type of teacher support that was most significantly related to well-being.

Participants

Data were collected from 149 middle school students attending a public, urban, Title I school located in a southeastern region of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of the enrollment at this school was identified as economically disadvantaged. This school had a total of 320 students and 31 faculty and had been in operation for approximately 4 years following reorganization of upper and lower grades in this community. The middle school was housed within what was formerly the elementary school building. All participants were enrolled in the general education classroom. The school was considered “at-risk” in that since reorganization, the middle school grades had never met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) according to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB; 2002) standards. The school had been identified by the state as at risk for corrective action given failure to meet these standards, and the school district had responded to this through administrative reorganization. In addition, a positive behavior intervention and support initiative was being implemented in this school at the time this study took place.

Fifty-six percent of the participants were female and 44% percent were male. The sample primarily consisted of participants who identified themselves as African American (95%) with the remainder self-identifying as Caucasian (5%). Participants were in Grades 6 (25%), 7 (34%), and 8 (41%); student age ranged from 11 years to 15 years (M = 12.75; SD = 1.05). The majority of students reported that they lived with their mothers only (48%); other household demographics were as follows: parent/step-parent (17%), both parents (16%), parent and grandparent (8%), grandparents (6%), nonrelative (3%), and father only (2%).

Measures

Procedures

Parental consent and student assent were obtained from all participants in this study; approximately 47% (n = 149) of the school’s student population completed questionnaires that could be used for this study. Participants completed a demographic form and the two self-report questionnaires during a predetermined period on one day; the predetermined time was during a school-wide mentoring activity that had been established at the beginning of the school year by school administrators in which students met in small groups with a school staff member (i.e., teachers, related services personnel, and administrative personnel). Students had been meeting with mentoring groups based on grade level; a total of 10 groups completed the questionnaires for this study. The opportunity to participate in this study was provided to all students from this school, and it was emphasized that participation was completely voluntary. Those students who chose not to participate were provided with an alternative activity during administration of the questionnaires.

Two versions of the questionnaire packets were administered with students randomly assigned to one of the two versions to complete. Each version of the questionnaire packet had a Demographic form, the CASSS, and the MSLSS; the only difference in the two versions involved the order of presentation of the CASSS and the MSLSS that alternated dependent on the particular version. That is, each packet had a demographic form and either the CASSS followed by the MSLSS or the demographic form with the MSLSS followed by the CASSS. The entire questionnaire packet took approximately 15 min to 20 min to complete. School staff members were provided with scripted instructions to introduce the questionnaires and to direct their completion. Completed questionnaires were placed by each individual student in an envelope provided by the researchers that was sealed by a designated participant once all completed questionnaires had been returned. Sealed packets were then taken to a designated location for pick-up by the researchers. To ensure student confidentiality, student names were not placed on any of the questionnaires or demographic form; numerical codes were used for identification purposes.

For inclusion in data analysis, each student questionnaire packet had to include a completed demographic form, a completed CASSS, and a completed MSLSS. A total of nine packets (6 %) were excluded from data analysis for the total sample due to missing data.

Relationship Between Teacher Support and LS

Intercorrelations between the four types of teacher support as measured by the CASSS (Malecki et al., 2004) and between the total LS score from the MSLSS (Huebner, 2001) were completed. As reflected by data in Table 1, all intercorrelations between the four subdomains of Teacher Support on the CASSS and the MSLSS Life Satisfaction score were statistically significant (ranging from .24 to .72), suggesting that the CASSS subdomains tap differing yet related constructs. Intercorrelations between the four CASSS Teacher Support subdomains indicated high (.66 to .72) multicollinearity, thus making it difficult to distinguish uniqueness among variables.

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Table 1.

Intercorrelations Between Types of Teacher Support and Students’ Life Satisfaction (N = 149).

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1. Emotional support	4.38	1.32	1	.66*	.67*	.68*	.24*
2. Informational support	4.10	1.47		1	.72*	.66*	.33*
3. Appraisal support	4.41	1.30			1	.72*	.31*
4. Instrumental support	4.67	1.24				1	.27*
5. Life satisfaction	3.00	0.35					1

*

p < .05.

The linear combination of the types of Teacher Support accounted for 13% of the variance in LS, F(5, 143) = 4.25, p < .001, R² = .13. A review of beta weights from the analysis showed that one CASSS source of Teacher Support uniquely predicted LS (p < .01); the Information subdomain was the only unique predictor (β = .38).

Grade Differences

Additional correlational and regression analyses were completed using student grade as a moderator of the four types of teacher support and relationship to the criterion variable, life satisfaction. For sixth graders, (n = 37) the linear combination of the four types of social support accounted for 39% of the variance in LS, F(5, 31) = 3.95, p < .01, R² = .39, and all components were unique contributors to LS (p < .01). Conversely, for seventh graders (n = 51) the amount of variance accounted for by Teacher Support components was not statistically significant, F(5, 45) = 1.94, p = .11. Eighth graders (n = 61) were more similar to sixth graders in that 22% of the variance in LS was indicated, F(5, 55) = 3.06, p < .01, R² = .22, and all components were unique contributors.

Implications for School Practices

Several implications from these findings can be used to inform both educational practice and future research. In terms of applied school practices, results further highlight the important relationship that Teacher Support has with well-being of urban middle school students. Thus, initiatives that directly inform teachers about how to provide such support to students are imperative. Research in which student input has been sought appears particularly valuable in addressing this need. For example, Suldo et al. (2009), interviewed students regarding teacher behaviors that conveyed support and care. Based on information obtained from middle school students attending an urban school, several themes were identified. Teacher behaviors were grouped according to actions that communicated teacher interest in students beyond academic success; use of “best” practices associated with teaching such as ensuring student understanding of material and matching instruction to students’ preferences; teacher responses to academic work (i.e., recognizing gains and accomplishments as well as helping with subject mastery); equity in responding to all students; and encouraging questioning by students. Hence, teachers’ increasing these identified behaviors represents a start toward facilitation of a positive learning environment that potentially enhances student perceptions of teacher support.

While efforts to increase specific teacher-student interaction behaviors as a means of increasing perceived teacher support have potential for adding to a positive context, results from the current study suggest the need for individualizing such an approach. That is, when considered along with results from previous research, it appears that specific teacher behaviors may be more valuable and/or offer more impact for certain populations of students. Available research suggests that across a middle school population, the relationship between life satisfaction and type of teacher support offered varies. Thus, inclusion of an assessment of student perceptions regarding teacher support may be an important component for schools to include to individualize such intervention efforts. In addition to direct instruction to expand knowledge and deepen expertise, support must be offered to teachers to maximize school climate characteristics that buffer against stress inherent in the profession. Informal implications from observations within the school setting where this research was completed support this necessity. In this study, the grade level for which the relationship between teacher support and life satisfaction was least demonstrated was with the same grade level in which teachers had overtly reported conflict between themselves as a grade level and other teachers. Regarding the challenges of teaching, Kardos and Johnson stated (as cited in Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, 2012):

[Teachers] are bumped about by the minute-to-minute decisions that determine whether they can maintain order among their students. They struggle deciding what to teach and which resources to use, how fast or slowly to pace their lessons, how to engage students with varied abilities and interests, and how to respond to demands for standardized test preparation . . . Most new teachers confront these challenges alone, with little organized aid or assistance from their colleagues . . . ” (p. 9)

As related to teachers’ ability to provide support to their students, they, too, must have their own needs recognized and met to function in a supportive capacity. While reasons for the differences in teacher satisfaction that were suggested in this study are not clear, the implication of such differences, particularly as suggested by differences in student perceptions, is clear. Teacher behaviors and attitudes affect their relationships with students; thus, careful attention to those teacher characteristics that directly influence these interactions is worthy of in-depth investigation.

For teachers in urban settings, these challenges are often multiplied. As noted by Darling-Hammond (2003), “Teacher turnover is 50 percent higher in high-poverty than in low-poverty schools . . ., and new teachers in urban districts exit or transfer at higher rates than their suburban counterparts do . . . ” (p. 7). Among the reasons for higher teacher attrition rates in urban settings identified by Darling-Hammond (2003), larger class sizes, less administrative support, fewer material resources, and “significantly worse working conditions” (p. 8) were several that conceivably affect a teacher’s own personal resources for offering support to students. That is, if a teacher’s own work-related needs are not met, meeting the needs of his or her students is potentially impaired. Darling-Hammond (2003, 2007) recommended that high attrition rates in urban settings be addressed by school leaders working toward equalization of resources, provision of mentoring and coaching support, and supporting access to ongoing, quality professional development and leadership opportunities for veteran teachers. Focusing on such initiatives in strategic planning not only represents a way to support teachers but, naturally, their students can render benefit as well.

Future research that includes ratings of student perceptions of life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions, and types of teacher support that students report as favorable, as well as study with direct observation of teachers within an analysis of overall school climate would be beneficial to add to this emerging research topic. Furthermore, because social support can be offered and received from a variety of contexts, comparing teacher support to support received from other sources (e.g., family, peers) may assist with the identification of other contexts associated with life satisfaction. Investigations of such contexts may offer additional resources for intervention purposes. Finally, the limited amount of research that exists has been completed with middle school samples; including additional age groups may offer insight into types of support that appear most important across a larger range of grades. Such research could potentially further our understanding of ways to support the well-being of students, an invaluable resource for promoting student success across many domains of functioning.