Dissertation Proposal Announcement Ed.D. Program: Jude Yasin “Building Bridges: A Qualitative Study of Teacher-Student Relationships in Dubai”
Dubai’s private schools serve culturally, linguistically and nationally diverse student populations, creating educational environments in which teacher-student relationships develop across varied backgrounds, experiences and expectations. Although research has established an association between positive teacher-student relationships and students’ sense of belonging, less is known about how these relationships are experienced and interpreted within international private-school contexts characterized by cultural diversity and transience. This qualitative study examines how teacher-student relationships shape high school students’ sense of belonging in American-curriculum private schools in Dubai. Specifically, the study explores the relational qualities and practices teachers and students identify as meaningful, how students experience these relationships in relation to belonging and how student and teacher perspectives on relationship-building converge or differ.
The study is guided by Pianta’s (1999) framework of teacher-student relationships and Strayhorn’s (2019) framework of sense of belonging, which together provide a lens for examining how relational experiences develop and how students interpret those experiences in relation to feeling accepted, valued, supported and significant within their school communities. Using a basic qualitative design grounded in an interpretivist epistemology, the study will include up to 18 participants, consisting of approximately eight to twelve students in Grades 10 to 12, ages 15 to 18, and four to six high school teachers across American-curriculum private schools in Dubai. Participants will be recruited through purposive, criterion-based and snowball sampling. Semi-structured individual interviews will serve as the primary data source, complemented by student and teacher focus groups. Data will be analyzed through iterative coding, comparison and thematic development, with attention to both shared and differing perspectives.
By centering students’ accounts alongside teachers’ perspectives, this study seeks to provide a contextually grounded understanding of how everyday relational practices acquire meaning within culturally diverse and transient school environments. Findings may inform relational teaching practices, teacher professional learning, student transition support and broader school approaches to fostering belonging.