Teacher Support and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between perceived teacher support and overall life satisfaction (LS) in a sample of urban middle school students. Based on correlations between measures of student perceptions related to these constructs, results indicated that student perceptions of teacher support correlated significantly with LS, with the highest correlation demonstrated between Informational Support and LS (r = .33). Linear regression analyses also indicated that teacher Informational Support contributed most significantly to LS variance. Student grade was identified as a moderating variable. Implications of these findings for teachers and other school staff are discussed within the context of including school climate factors in comprehensive school review plans for maximizing student functioning.

Keywords

student life satisfaction social support teacher–student relationships

Positive psychology represents a theoretical framework that capitalizes on an individual’s strengths and capabilities as opposed to a singular focus on identification of pathology, the more traditional aim in the practice of psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In contrast to the predominant practice model that emphasizes problem delineation, “the aim of positive psychology is to begin to catalyze a change in the focus of psychology from preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to also building positive qualities” (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, p. 5). Positive psychology is oriented toward prevention of problems through concentration on the facilitation of well-being and optimal functioning (Gable & Haidt, 2005) as well as the determination of those factors that are protective to the individual in buffering against stressful life events and circumstances (Terjesen, Jacofsky, Froh, & DiGiuseppe, 2004). This model denotes a shift away from a reactive, disease model and instead emphasizes practices that support development and expansion of individuals’ strengths in a variety of contexts (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009).

The school setting has become a focus for application within the positive psychology literature over the past decade (Gilman, Huebner, & Furlong, 2009; Terjesen et al., 2004) and represents a readily available and potentially powerful context for implementation of “well-being initiatives” (Seligman et al., 2009). Optimizing student strengths and focusing on positive indicators of mental health have become focal points for supports provided within this model (Stewart & Suldo, 2011). A positive relationship between one such marker, the subjective well-being of students, and their levels of academic performance has been consistently demonstrated (Bar-On, 2003; Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Schellinger, & Taylor, 2011; Huebner, Suldo, Smith, & McKnight, 2004); thus, this relationship accentuates the value of the positive psychology focus, not only for the individual but also in relation to supporting academic success. An essential component for consideration in school improvement plans is the inclusion of strategies for routinely evaluating the well-being of students and aspects of the school environment that would support their well-being.

Relationships Between School Climate, Perceived Support, and Student Outcomes

School climate represents one dimension of the school context with substantial potential for affecting overall well-being of students. As stated by Cohen (2006), “Interventions designed to create a safe, caring, participatory, and responsive school represent a systemic process that creates the optimal foundation for learning and development” (p. 209). School climate factors have been described as the “platform upon which we teach and learn” (Cohen, 2006, p. 212) and are represented by the experiential sense of safety, organizational structure, and teaching and learning practices (Cohen & Geier, 2010). Another major ingredient contributing to school climate relates to the quality of teacher–student interpersonal relationships. As described by D. Doll (2010), positive relationships between teachers and students are “warm and caring and meet students’ personal and developmental needs . . . Classroom climates can be irrevocably harmed if teachers behave in derogatory or punitive ways” (p. 1). Thus, maximizing supportive teacher relationships represents a valuable resource situated within a positive conceptualization for working within schools to potentially support student well-being.

The positive impact that supportive teacher–student relationships provide to students is well-documented (B. Doll, Zucker, & Brehm, 2004; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Hughes, Luo, Kwok, & Loyd, 2008). The importance of student–teacher relationships in mitigating against school failure, affecting peer relationships, and contributing to social-emotional competency of students is emphasized by an expanding literature base (B. Doll et al., 2004; Hamre & Pianta, 2001, 2005, 2006; Hughes & Kwok, 2007; Hughes et al., 2008). Investigations of the association between perceived teacher support, expressed through teacher–student relationships, and student outcome variables have indicated that levels of teacher support are significantly related to student reported levels of depression and self-esteem (Reddy, Rhodes, & Mulhall, 2003), and personal adjustment, academic competence, and social skills (Malecki & Demarray, 2003). It is noted that the actual source from which social support was received was significant; comparisons indicated that support from teachers was associated with positive student outcome indicators whereas significant associations between peer support and these same indicators were not demonstrated (Richman, Rosenfeld, & Bowen, 1998). Thus, this school-specific resource for support appears to have a unique impact for students.

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.

Aims of the Current Study

The purpose of the present study was to investigate student perceptions of teacher support and association with perceived LS in an urban, middle school population. A primary goal underlying this research was to complete a modified replication of Suldo et al.’s (2009) research examining the relationship between these two perceptual constructs. While the influence of teacher behaviors on positive student outcomes has been widely documented, few studies investigating the link between student-directed teacher behaviors, that is, teacher support, and the specific construct of student LS have been documented. Because LS estimates bear direct relationship to emotional functioning, and because both are significantly related to student outcomes, expanding the research base that examines these factors has practical, applied utility. That is, such investigation has potential for informing wellness initiatives that focus on the role of teacher behavior. Extant research has yielded inconsistent results about types of teacher support most associated with student well-being as well as the potentially moderating effect of age on perceptions of teacher support (see, for example, Hughes & Kwok, 2007; Hughes et al., 2008; Reddy et al., 2003); thus, investigation of differences based on this demographic within this urban population was also considered.

Method

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

Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS)

The CASSS (Malecki et al., 2004) consists of 60 items completed by the student to provide ratings of perceived support received from the following sources: parents, teachers, classmates, close friends, and school. Each source subscale consists of 12 items that the participant rates in terms of frequency (from 1 = never to 6 = always); each subscale item reflects one of four types of support: emotional, informational, appraisal, and instrumental support. The CASSS follows the typology of support developed by House (1981) wherein the types of support are described as follows—emotional support: feelings of trust and love provided from interpersonal interactions; informational support: the receiving of advice or information; appraisal: receiving evaluative feedback; and instrumental support: resources provided by others in terms of time and materials. Total scores for each of the five sources of support can be obtained by summing item frequency ratings. Each support source can also be scored for relative contribution of ways the support is expressed, that is, emotional, informational, appraisal, and instrumental

The CASSS is appropriate for use with students in Grades 3 to 12 with reliability and validity data primarily obtained for middle school samples from urban areas (Malecki et al., 2004); analyses of data from the instrument have yielded a five-factor structure consistent with the five subscales on the CASSS. High internal consistency ratings (.92 to .96) have been reported (Malecki & Demarray, 2006). For the purposes of the present investigation, the CASSS Teacher Support score and the four types of support measured by the Teacher Support Scale were analyzed.

Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS)

The MSLSS (Huebner, 2001) is a self-report multidimensional research instrument used to provide a measure of children’s perceived LS. The instrument is appropriate for use with students from third grade to high school. The scale consists of 40 items across the following five domains: Family, Friends, School, Living Environment, and Self. Items are rated by the student on a scale of 1 (never) to 4 (almost always) with higher scores reflective of higher levels of LS in each of these areas. Domain and Total scores are obtained by averaging item scores in respective areas as well as across the entire inventory. The MSLSS Total Score was used as the primary index of LS for this investigation.

Reliability and validity of the scale has been established with various student samples, including those from urban areas, and results support the use of the instrument for research purposes. Reliability coefficients have ranged between the .70s to the low .90s. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and convergent and divergent validity investigations have also been supportive of the structure of the instrument (Huebner, 2001).

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.

Results

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.

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.

Discussion

In keeping with Seligman et al.’s (2009) concept regarding “positive education,” a crucial factor worthy of careful attention by schools concerns the life satisfaction of students, a primary component of SWB or happiness. Life satisfaction is positively associated with mental health functioning and has also been shown to bear significant relationship to academic performance (Cohen, 2006; Zins & Elias, 2007). Thus, consideration of the life satisfaction of students provides an avenue for supporting the school success of students. Furthermore, attention to life satisfaction can potentially buffer the effects of stressful life events, thus adding to student resilience (B. Doll et al., 2004). A focus on characteristics of school climate as an important context in which students regularly interact capitalizes on research highlighting the greater impact that daily occurrences of positive life events have on well-being relative to factors such as those related to student demographics such as socioeconomic status (Huebner & Gilman, 2003).

The aim of the present study was to further investigate the relationship between students’ perceptions of social support from teachers and students’ own LS, a major component of SWB. Results were consistent with data from this emerging field of study (Malecki & Demaray, 2003; Reddy et al., 2003; Suldo et al., 2009) that support the importance of Teacher Support and its relationship to student outcomes, including LS. In particular, the importance of Teacher Support in the form of Information, as assessed by the CASSS, was emphasized for the current sample. That is, when controlling for shared variance between types of teacher support, student perceptions of advice or information received (i.e., Information Support) from teachers independently related to life satisfaction differences between students. Within House’s (1981) model, Information support involves provision of guidance or suggestions useful for problem solving and this emerged as an important feature for this sample.

The study of the relationship between life satisfaction and perceived teacher support is a focus that has only recently begun to be represented in the literature. However, overall results are consistent with a previous, similar study by Suldo et al. (2009) completed with a large sample of urban middle school students in which approximately 16% of the variance in well-being was accounted for by teacher support. In the Suldo et al.’s (2009) study, a more comprehensive assessment of SWB was completed that included life satisfaction ratings as well as a measure of positive and negative affect. Even so, present results focused exclusively on the life satisfaction component and provided support for the relationship between well-being, as defined in the current study, and teacher support. Thus, the suggestion that assessment of LS provides a viable method for investigating well-being with youth appears to be supported by the present research when presented alongside other investigations.

With the current sample, Information support emerged as particularly unique in predicting life satisfaction for the total sample. Such support is offered through teacher behaviors such as giving information when help is requested, providing explanations, and assisting with problem solving. For this sample of middle school students, these teacher behaviors were highly associated with overall ratings of life satisfaction. Further study of behaviors reflective of informational support and the extent to which this specific subset of teacher behaviors affects student well-being is needed to assist in evaluating this result from the present investigation. In addition, further study of types of support most associated with well-being is warranted; while results regarding Teacher Support, overall, were consistent with results from Suldo and colleagues (2009), differences between samples were demonstrated in terms of the types of support most highly associated with LS; whereas Information Support was important for the present sample, Instrumental Support (tangible help) and Emotional Support (provision of empathy and nurturance) were identified as the most important for the Suldo and colleagues (2009) sample. Investigation of potential reasons for differences in perceptions between samples obviously has important applied implications.

Grade level did appear to moderate differences; for seventh graders, an analysis of the relationship between LS and teacher support components did not indicate that specific components uniquely predicted the criterion of LS. However, for sixth and eight graders, all components did emerge as unique predictors. Results support the idea that age/grade related differences in the relationship between social support and life satisfaction exist although this finding has been inconsistent based on other research (Hughes & Kwok, 2007). While further research is needed to investigate whether grade/age differences emerge, results from the current study that reflect these differences may actually provide unanticipated support for the relationship between LS and teacher support that was hypothesized. That is, for teachers at this school, it was noted by the researchers that a higher degree of conflict and stated dissatisfaction had been demonstrated by the seventh-grade teachers relative to the sixth- and eighth-grade teachers. Thus, it may have been that the seventh-grade teachers were actually offering less support to their students and thus influenced student perception ratings. However, formal interviews and ratings were not obtained from teachers; essentially, observational information was anecdotal. Inclusion of additional measures related to quality of teaching and other teacher based assessments in future studies would be necessary to investigate and potentially strengthen this presumed relationship.

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.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Pamela E. Guess is a full professor and School Psychology Program coordinator at University of Tennessee (UTC). She has a private practice as a school psychologist primarily consulting with schools about social-emotional issues.

Sara J. McCane-Bowling is an assistant professor at UTC and teaches coursework for the School Psychology Program. She has worked with schools to develop multi-tiered systems of support designed to prevent behavioral difficulties experienced by students and promote positive school climates.

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