A pedagogy of belonging: troubling encounters with ethnic and religious difference

Abstract

Understanding the construction of belonging and how unbelonging might be troubled, is critical work. For schools in many parts of the world, one of the many challenges of globalisation is the task of teaching with, and for ethnic and cultural diversity. In this paper we examine the exclusionary practices of teaching that construct ethnic and religious minority students in states of unbelonging. These practices are due, in part, to teachers' failure to really know their students. Alongside this argument, we examine discourses of belonging in rural schools that speak to possibilities for everyday place-sharing for ethnic and religious minority students. Simple and common moments of mutual recognition and understanding speak to the possibilities for belonging that are opened up in everyday relations of knowing. We consider the implications of these ideas for teachers and teacher education in what is framed as a 'pedagogy of belonging'.

Migrant Students’ Sense of Belonging and the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Implications for Educational Inclusion

“…Using online spaces where migrant students can connect with peers and family members may help to alleviate exclusionary tendencies in schools (Rowan et al, 2021). Teachers' pedagogical practices (Edgeworth & Santoro, 2015;Pendergast et al, 2018) also play a role in defining belongingness. Therefore, Edgeworth and Santoro (2015, p. 423) recommend developing "pedagogies of belonging" understood as "pedagogies that create all students in states of belonging.…”

Student teachers’ beliefs about diversity: analysing the impact of a ‘diversity week’ during Initial Teacher Education

“…There are similarities between these local descriptions and the national summary offered by Elton-Chalcraft et al (2017, 31): a 'model of Britishness [that is] fearful of strangers, under siege and unsure of itself'. These demographics exacerbate what has been suggested -both nationally and internationally -to be an issue for teacher education programmes (Edgeworth and Santoro 2015;Bhopal and Rhamie 2014;Lander 2014Lander , 2011Larzen-Ostermark 2009;Mills 2009;Allard 2006;Ambe 2006;Clarke and Drudy 2006;Milner et al 2003;Ball 2000;Larke 1990), which 'have been found to be increasingly homogenousprimarily White, middle class and from the dominant culture' (Acquah and Commins 2013, 445). As Milner (2012) suggests, 'it is difficult to have a conversation about discrimination in urban education when those participating have never experienced discrimination themselves' (p.704).…”

Together or separate? Tracing classroom pedagogies of (un)belonging for newcomer migrant pupils in two Austrian schools

“…While the definitions of 'belonging' are numerous and divergent, we here approach it as a pedagogical concept (Edgeworth and Santoro, 2015;Comber and Woods, 2018;Dadvand and Cuervo, 2019), manifesting in educational relationships (Martin et al, 2023) in the classroom context as teachers organize curricular learning. Edgeworth and Santoro (2015), p. 423 call the 'pedagogies of belonging' teaching practices that construct all students as belonging to a school community.…”

“…In the context of these structural inequalities, teachers' classroom pedagogies are key in creating the context for newly arrived migrant pupils to feel belonging (Vansteenkiste et al, 2020;Lang and García, 2023). Therefore, in this article, we approach belonging as a pedagogical concept (Edgeworth and Santoro, 2015;Comber and Woods, 2018;Dadvand and Cuervo, 2019), and as a pathway to potentially reducing inequalities for newcomer migrant pupils (DeNicolo et al, 2017). While much research confirms that positive interpersonal relationships with teachers, and teachers' actions that provide social care are cornerstones of belonging for newcomer migrant youth (DeNicolo et al, 2017;Amina et al, 2022;Martin et al, 2023;Sutton et al, 2023), less research focuses on how teachers' instructional strategies to organize curricular learning set conditions for (un)belonging.…”