Making it personal: Academic counseling with Māori students and their families

• Published in: Contemporary educational psychology Vol. 47; pp. 51 - 60
• Main Authors: Webber, Melinda, McKinley, Elizabeth, Rubie-Davies, Christine M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego Elsevier Inc 01.10.2016; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic Advising; Academic advising schemes; Academic counseling; Academic freedom; Collective action; Counseling; Court decisions; Disconnection; Expectations; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Focus Groups; Future planning; Goal Orientation; Goal setting; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous students; Individualized; Interpersonal relations; Malayo Polynesian Languages; Motivation; Māori; Parents; Quality; Self Efficacy; Student Motivation; Student teacher relationship; Students; Teachers; Expectations; Māori; Academic counseling; Indigenous students; Parents
• ISSN: 0361-476X; 1090-2384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.03.001

•Teacher–student relationship quality affected respect, interactions and trust.•Achievement-focused relationships rely on collective vision, efficacy and action.•Goal setting, future planning, progress review, and celebrating success were key.•School–home relations enhance student motivation, self-efficacy, and achievement.•A comprehensive academic advising program could be successful in other contexts. The engagement of indigenous students and their families has often been a challenge for mainstream schools. Many indigenous students and their parents have reported a sense of disconnection from educational contexts due to a lack of personalized or ongoing relationships with the teachers or the school. There are indications in the literature that well-conducted academic counseling can increase engagement with students and their families. However, despite the evidence, New Zealand research has shown that many students do not receive any form of academic counseling. This study examined the effectiveness of an academic counseling intervention from the perspective of 78 Māori students in 12 focus groups and school reported attendance data. The results of the study indicated that Māori students appreciated enduring achievement-focused relationships with teachers that were premised on three factors: 1) collective vision—the degree to which all parties were committed to equipping students with the skills to achieve academic excellence; 2) collective efficacy—the judgment that all three parties could organize and execute the actions required to have a positive effect on Māori students; and 3) coordinated and timely collective action—the belief that all parties had a role to play in actively supporting Māori student achievement.