Cultivating hope in uncertain times: middle school teacher practices for students and themselves

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight research that examines the ways that urban middle school teachers create conditions for hope in their classroom and for themselves, particularly since the pandemic. In the past few years, there has been a confluence of both issues at the domestic and international level that have increased epidemics related to polarization, divisiveness and loneliness. This paper includes a combination of literature, qualitative interview responses from teachers and a conceptual framework related to hope and healing in the middle school classroom. This study ends with a personal reflection from the author about the ways she found hope as an educator. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper is a result of the author’s dissertation. This qualitative study examined eight successful urban middle school teachers and their perspectives on conditions they created for hope in their classrooms and ways they created hope for themselves. Urban middle school teachers who taught humanities shared their insights through semi-structured interviews. Two research questions that drove this study included: How do middle school teachers who are perceived as successful ground their work in practices that are consistent with critical hope? What personal practices do successful middle school teachers cultivate to create conditions for hope in their classroom? Findings The findings of this study align with pedagogical practices the teachers used that center hope and voice for students: culturally responsive practices, relational practices and justice-oriented practices. These specific teachers cared deeply about their middle school students and worked to create classrooms that were safe and grounded in community. Participants also cultivated specific personal practices as a way to remain hopeful. Originality/value This research adds to the existing research on hope for students while also situating the understanding of this concept within the pandemic and post-pandemic classroom. This research also makes a connection between the hope of students and the hope of teachers.