When you're on a difficult path, sometimes what you need most is a push in the right direction from someone who cares. This is the case for many low-income and minority students, whose education goals and aspirations can be significantly strengthened by educators who give them the guidance they need. Because most ethnic minority students find comfort in knowing that their teachers, counselors, and other school staff are interested in their futures, they're often receptive to receiving support, especially when it means they will be better able to advance in the education system.
Educators who intentionally connect with students and initiate academic interventions are pivotal in altering students' education paths. A pivotal moment occurs when a college-educated adult—often a teacher, counselor, academic outreach professional, or professor—makes a concerted effort to support and mentor a disadvantaged student, whether in an informal or an official role—or both.
The three main components of engineering these pivotal moments are trust, mentoring and advocacy, and sharing of academic knowledge and skills. Educators build trust with students by showing respect, being honest and trustworthy, demonstrating care, and sharing personal experiences to break down rigid educator-student boundaries. By modeling how to participate in a school community, providing emotional and moral support, and speaking up for students, educators act as mentors and advocates who help ensure students' academic progress. By sharing academic knowledge and skills needed for navigating the school system, using social networking and other learning resources, and making informed education decisions, teachers build relationships that can be transformative for students. This was the case for Blanca and Terry.
Blanca's Story
Blanca is a Latina whose mother is a sales clerk and whose father is a painter. She was the first person in her family to graduate from college. Growing up, her family and household responsibilities included cooking, cleaning, and caring for her younger siblings. Blanca's education trajectory was positively altered through pivotal moments in high school with three different teachers.
When Blanca was in 10th grade, her English teacher, Ms. Ryan, took her aside one day and insisted that she should be in honors-level English. Ms. Ryan not only encouraged Blanca to take the entrance exam for the class, but also counseled her through the testing process, building her academic confidence along the way. This was the first time an educator had reached out to her and made her feel like an exceptional student:
No one had said that they felt I wasn't being challenged enough, so her insistence that I could do honors-level coursework really had an impact on me. Until that point, I hadn't even considered trying to place into honors-level courses, and so her comments and support began to change the way that I saw myself as a student.
The academic intervention Blanca's teacher initiated had profound long-term consequences. For the first time, Blanca began to set education goals. She learned to advocate for herself in school and got into more rigorous courses that made her more academically prepared and competitive for college admissions.
In addition to counseling Blanca academically, her biology teacher, Ms. Sullivan, connected with her on a personal level by helping her cope with economic hardships and conflict with her parents:
Not only did she support and advise me academically in high school and encourage me to consider a number of colleges, but she was there for me when things with my father were rocky, when we didn't have money to do things that she felt were a crucial experience for high school kids (go to prom, buy a yearbook), and she generally provided me with emotional and moral support.
During Blanca's senior year, Ms. Sullivan also enlisted Blanca's humanities teacher to intervene when she learned that Blanca planned to apply only to community colleges and two-year vocational schools. As a result of her teachers' interventions, Blanca attended a selective public four-year university.
Terry's Story
Terry is a black woman who lived in a city she describes as "predominantly black and poor" until she was 7. Her godmother was a single parent raising both Terry and her own two biological children. Terry described growing up in poverty:
I just remember it [the apartment] being dirty and having roaches … I also remember being hungry … We would get food stamps at the beginning of the month and then the food would only last for so long and so the last week and a half or so [of the month] we were really hungry!
At age 7, Terry left her poor but loving home and went to live with her father and new stepmother. Her father's new family made jokes about her and always pointed out how poor she was. Her parents worked full-time and counted on her, as the oldest child, to care for the house and her younger siblings. For Terry, doing well in school was "an outlet to get away from my crazy, abusive stepmother." She became an avid reader because it helped her escape her harsh home life.
Terry experienced her first pivotal moment at the end of junior high school when her Spanish teacher, Ms. Barrera, took an active role in trying to get Terry into a private high school. Ms. Barrera went above and beyond her role as a teacher to become Terry's advocate:
She thought she should try to get me into either a Catholic school or a private school, something that would be more challenging. She took it upon herself and drove me around to all these private schools. She would just walk up to the admissions office and be like, "I have this student and she's very smart, and you need to have her as a student at your school!"
This was the first time Terry had an educator reach out to her in this way. Even though Terry's parents expressed concern about the high cost of private high schools, Ms. Barrera continued to guide her through the application process, knowing that she would most likely qualify for full financial aid.
Although Terry was accepted to her first-choice private high school, her stepmother refused to fill out the financial aid paperwork. Ms. Barrera then made sure Terry attended a public high school with an accelerated program to challenge her academically.
Terry's second pivotal moment took place in high school when her political science teacher, Ms. Marks, encouraged her to apply for a prestigious scholarship to study abroad in Mexico. Only a few students received this scholarship each year, but Ms. Marks insisted that Terry apply. She helped her fill out the application and wrote her a letter of support. After Terry was notified that she had received the award, Ms. Marks met with her parents and explained to them that it would be an excellent opportunity. Terry now says that studying abroad in Mexico was "one of the best experiences of my life."
Terry had a third pivotal moment in high school with her academic counselor, Ms. Latham, who assisted her with applying to college. Terry knew she wanted to go to college, but she didn't know anything about the application process. Her counselor insisted she apply for early admission to Middlebury College, a highly selective liberal arts school that specializes in foreign languages. She walked her through every step of the application process, and Terry was eventually admitted.
Creating Pivotal Moments
Blanca's and Terry's pivotal moments helped them develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to successfully navigate the education system. Their stories illuminate the actions numerous educators took to change their education trajectories. By nurturing trusting relationships, these educators were able to transmit the necessary knowledge that enabled Blanca and Terry to overcome disadvantages related to their social class and background.
The practice of intervening to initiate pivotal moments can be powerful and transformative if implemented intentionally and systematically. There are several key steps that educators who wish to create pivotal moments should take.
First, it is important that educators understand the unique social and economic obstacles certain students face. Second, educators should be conscious of the crucial role they play in students' lives. They should understand how mentors can play a key role in helping low-income and minority students overcome obstacles to education. Third, educators should make sure that they are well versed in the academic knowledge and skills that low-income and minority students need. Such knowledge might include information on academic outreach programs, internship opportunities, support services, and college admissions.
Schools can play a part through well-planned professional development that explains the importance of all three components of a pivotal moment—trust, mentoring and advocacy, and transmitting academic knowledge and skills. Schools should also provide continuous support and training for educators about pivotal moments. Students in teacher preparation programs, as well as those in counseling programs that train and license school guidance counselors, should be made aware of the importance of pivotal moments. Academic outreach programs and nonprofit organizations can also play important roles in fostering early pivotal moments to place students on the path to college completion.
Pivotal moments are one of the many tools we can use to change the education trajectories of low-income and ethnic minority students. Teachers who make a deliberate effort to create these moments with students will have a positive influence that lasts long after their students leave their classroom.
How To Create Pivotal Moments
How To Create Pivotal Moments
Build Trust
Ask students about their personal and family lives outside school.
Provide a safe space for students to express their opinions and concerns.
Show sympathy and care toward students' dilemmas and struggles.
Mentor and Advocate
Provide students with emotional and moral support.
Hold students to high standards of academic excellence and raise aspirations for college.
Model behaviors for productive participation in a school community.
Develop relationships with important and influential school leaders to advocate for students.
Share Academic Knowledge and Skills
Advise and guide students in making a concrete plan to prepare for college.
Show students how to use academic and institutional resources.
Help students become independent self-advocates who know how to seek help when they need it.
Coach students on social networking and communicating with adults.
Teach students how to navigate school processes, such as filling out college applications.
Promote and guide effective problem solving and decision making.
