Exploring American Indian student-teacher relationships through reflective narratives

This narrative study sought to gain an empathetic understanding of the relationships between former American Indian students and their best teachers and the attributes and characteristics of those teachers as they understood them. The storied data was derived from conversations among 23 American Indian adults who came together in nine groups with one to three of their former classmates to reflect on their best elementary school teachers. To promote authenticity and trustworthiness, sessions were videotaped without the presence of the researcher and findings were audited and discussed by a group of American Indian educators. Analyses of the vignettes of 40 best teachers that emerged from the conversations reveal six frequently occurring themes. These teachers were said to be caring, to have close personal relationships with students, to be available to students over and above class time, to have high expectations of their students, to push or encourage students to meet those expectations, and to be sensitive to or respectful of the students' cultures.; The attributes were analyzed for cultural congruence and the relationships they discussed were viewed critically within the larger sociostructural context within which the participants situated their best teachers. This research suggests that for these individuals, the caring teacher acted as a mitigating force against structural inequalities in the students' lives, thereby increasing their chances for academic success. These findings have implications for teacher preparation programs as well as for recruitment and hiring processes.