Through Their Eyes: Ethnic Minority Students Describe Teachers Who Helped Them Succeed in School

Abstract In this article, ethnic minority students describe teachers who helped them succeed in school. Data are drawn from interviews conducted in 1997 with successful students enrolled in a pre-service education program at Yunnan Normal University. Many of the interviewees are now mid-career teachers in schools throughout Yunnan Province. Plans (postponed due to the pandemic) have been made to interview these individuals again, hopefully later in 2022. The focus here is on one characteristic of effective teachers that was mentioned frequently by the students, and that is teachers’ ability to bring about change. A tentative theoretical model was developed to explain teacher change agency. Using the model, we find that change brought about by teachers is manifested in students, schools, and society.