Sense of Belonging at School: Defining Attributes, Determinants, and Sustaining Strategies

Abstract

Building and sustaining students' sense of belonging at school has been proposed by teachers and researchers as a means of stimulating students' intent or desire to learn and of reducing student attrition. This article will present the results of an inquiry into the literature on belonging to support the perspective that is it necessary, not only to foster a strong sense of belonging, but also to place much greater emphasis on school belonging in educational programs, practices, and research. The aims of the paper are: (a) to review the theoretical literature on school belonging with an emphasis on its defining attributes and main determinants, (b) to review the measurement instruments of school belonging, and (c) to identify various strategies that may enhance school belonging. In light of the defining attributes identified, the authors propose six general recommendations for educational stakeholders wishing to build and sustain students' sense of belonging at school.

The Effectiveness of Group Counseling with Emphasis on Communication Skills on Midwifery Students’ Sense of Belonging in Clinical Settings

“…In a similar vein, Levett-Jones et al (14) showed that the improvement of communication skills had a positive impact on nursing students' sense of belonging. Moreover, in consistent with the current study, previous research applying different methods was successful to enhance sense of belonging (21,27,28).…”

“…Only some studies with other interventional techniques and various sample size measured interventional effect on sense of belonging in the academic environment. Borzabadi and Araghieh (2015) in their study indicated that students' sense of belonging in schools increased by encouraging and motivating them to have this sense (27). In the study of Abolqasemi et al (36), the use of the Jigsaw collaborative learning method had a significant positive effect on increasing sense of belongingness among students and enhancing their social interactions.…”

A Light in Students’ Lives: K-12 Teachers’ Experiences (Re)Building Caring Relationships During Remote Learning

“…Caring teachers engage students in dialogue about their interests and needs, listen attentively, and express empathy (Noddings, 1984(Noddings, , 2005Osterman, 2010). Teachers further demonstrate authentic care by using positive and respectful communication (Ginot, 1972;Marshall, 2012), fostering peer discussion and interactions (Keyes, 2019;Osterman, 2010;St-Amand, Girard, & Smith, 2017), and using a familial approach to maximize each student's potential (Pang, Rivera, & Mora, 2000).…”

“…The relational bonds that grow from authentic care are vital to students' sense of belonging (Allen, Kern, Vella-Brodrick, Hattie, & Waters, 2018;Keyes, 2019;Osterman, 2000;Riley, 2019;St-Amand et al, 2017;Wang & Eccles, 2012). However, Noddings (2005) observes that, "in many of our schools today, we find teachers are trying to care and students who want to be cared for, and yet many of those students claim, 'Nobody cares!'…”

Lise Öğrencilerinin Okula Aidiyet Duyguları ve Sosyal İyi Oluşları Üzerine Karma Bir Araştırma

“…Okulun bir üyesi olarak değerli olduğunu düşünmeyi okula ait olma duygusunun temeli olduğunu ifade eden araştırmacılar, bu kavramı öğretmen öğrenci ilişkisi ile bağlantılı olarak görmüşlerdir (Juvonen, 2006). Yapılan araştırmalarda öğretmen ve öğrenciler arasındaki ilişki nitelikli bir şekilde devam ettiğinde öğrencilerin okula aidiyet duygularının geliştiği ve okula bağlandıkları görülmüştür (St-Amand, Girard ve Smith, 2017;Can, 2014;Cremmers ve Kyriakides, 2008). Dilekmen (2008) tarafından etkili bir ilişki kurmada kullandığı öğretmen davranışlarının ne olduğuna dair literatür taraması yaptığı araştırmasında öğrencilerin sorunlarıyla ilgilenme, gelişimlerini destekleme, onları motive etme, duygularını anlama, özgüvenini destekleme, iş birliğine dayalı bir ortam hazırlama ve olumlu bir çevre kurma konusunda yardım etme gibi tutum ve davranışları sıralamıştır.…”