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Role of teachers in influencing the development of adolescents’ possible selves

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Abstract

During late childhood and early adolescence, there is a dramatic increase in cognitive skills which influences how young people begin to think about their futures. The construct of possible selves has been used to help understanding of adolescents’ views of their future plans and goals by exploring their social perceptions to gain insight about how they think about the world and themselves. This study examined the role of perceived teacher support in adolescents’ development of possible selves. Results suggest that the four groups (White males, Latinos, White females and Latinas) in this study think in different ways about their future possible selves of graduating from a 4-year university. This study provides important theoretical as well as practical implications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Victor Rios for his support throughout the project and access to data sources, and Laura Romo and Danielle Harlow for their continued support and feedback throughout this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Dominican University of California, 50 Acacia Ave, San Rafael, CA, 94901, USA

    Shadi Roshandel

  2. Department of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-9490, USA

    Cynthia Hudley

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  1. Shadi Roshandel
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  2. Cynthia Hudley
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Correspondence to Shadi Roshandel.

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Roshandel, S., Hudley, C. Role of teachers in influencing the development of adolescents’ possible selves. Learning Environ Res 21, 211–228 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-017-9247-8

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