Examining predictors of school belonging using a socio-ecological perspective

Abstract

Between the years of 2003–2015, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has identified a global trend signalling a decline in a sense of school belonging for secondary school students. Research has identified several factors that are positively related to school belonging, such as teacher support and academic motivation. However, little empirical research has been conducted to evaluate the relevant school belonging variables holistically and to assess their socio-ecological levels (e.g., student, microsystem, mesosystem) relative to the student. The purpose of this study is to assess the significant predictive variables within each socio-ecological level regarding school belonging. For this purpose, this study used data collected by PISA in 2015, focusing on data from 309,785 15-year-old students attending 12,668 schools in 52 countries around the world. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to a) examine the empirical support for a layered structure of sense of school belonging, b) explore the contributions of variables in each layer of the socio-ecosystem to explain the variability in sense of school belonging and c) examine potential variations in this ability across schools and countries. The models provided support for the existence of such layers but also for some underlying relationships across the variables in the layers of the socio-ecosystem. The study then concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for school leaders, teachers and parents with respect to how school belonging approaches and strategies can be absorbed into existing practices and operations at school.

Adolescent School Belonging and Mental Health Outcomes in Young Adulthood: Findings from a Multi-wave Prospective Cohort Study

“…Whilst variously defined and operationalised in the literature (Askell- Williams et al, 2018;Libbey, 2004;Terrett et al, 2012), school belonging refers to a student's attachment, safety, and affiliation with their school (Allen et al, 2022;Goodenow & Grady, 1993;Terrett et al, 2012). Overall, it captures a student's sense of feeling valued and cared for at school (Ainley et al, 1986;Terrett et al, 2012).…”

“It matters if I am here“: Norwegian Urban Lower Secondary School Teachers and Leaders’ Experiences of Belonging

“…(2022a) clarified how conceptualizing belonging has evolved from an understanding centered on human motivation and interpersonal attachment (Baumeister & Leary, 1995;Maslow, 1954;Rogers, 1951) to more complex and broader interpretations that "consider the intrapersonal, temporal, cultural, environmental, and geographical contexts and experiences related to belonging" (Allen et al, 2022a(Allen et al, , p. 2805).…”

“…The study contributes to the literature in two distinct ways: First, it qualitatively examines experiences of belonging by gathering data from teachers' daily lives. In discussion with Allen et al (2022a), who are prominent belonging researchers, Leary and Baumeister shared how most research over the past 25 years has involved questionnaire studies or lab experiments, with too little attention given to how people experience belonging in their daily lives (e.g., at work or school). Second, while later studies have investigated experiences of belonging among early-career teachers (Bjorklund Jr., 2023;Skott, 2019) and in co-teaching relationships (Pesonen et al, 2021), less is known about how teachers experience belonging in an urban lower secondary school setting.…”

How does family functioning contribute to academic-related outcomes of Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of spirituality

“…In particular, academic values are significant determinants of academic outcomes ( Jiang et al, 2020 ; Li et al, 2021 ). Past studies have shown that examination scores, school belongingness, engagement in learning, satisfaction with subjects and academic performance, academic self-concept, and psychological well-being of students are related to their academic values (e.g., Katrin et al, 2019 ; Jiang et al, 2020 ; Dou and Shek, 2021 ; Li et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Allen et al, 2023 ). Nevertheless, striving for academic excellence would create much learning stress and academic anxiety to students ( Xu et al, 2022 ).…”