Constructing School Belonging(s) in Disadvantaged Urban Spaces: Adolescents’ Experiences and Narratives in Mexico City

Abstract

School belonging is a topic of growing interest given its connection with school dropout, academic achievement, students’ behavior, and adolescent well-being. Until recently, most of this literature came from Anglo-Saxon contexts, mainstream schools, and quantitative analysis. As a result, there is still a research gap on this issue in different cultural contexts, social classes, and minority groups. This article makes a contribution exploring school belonging among adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds, in an emerging economy (Mexico), and using a qualitative methodology that prioritize meanings and experiences of individuals. Focusing on three dimensions (stigmatization processes, school climate, and social relations with teacher and peers), we capture how the engagement of adolescents with their schooling process is shaped by institutional as well as sociocultural aspects. The study provides significant implications for a continuous professional development of high schools in disadvantaged contexts regarding student involvement, teacher support, and social recognition.

School Surveillance in Context: High School Students’ Perspectives on CCTV, Privacy, and Security

“…Therefore, surveillance should be viewed holistically, taking into account all contextual aspects relating to a specific school. The interconnections of CCTV surveillance and students’ schooling perceptions should inform policy makers in light of the crucial role of student–teacher relationships (Roorda et al, 2011; Wubbels & Brekelmans, 2005) and school belonging (Booth & Gerard, 2014; Huynh & Gillen-O’Neel, 2016; Saraví et al, 2019) in promoting students’ well-being, self-esteem, school engagement, and learning. These interconnections imply that the necessity of CCTVs should be carefully considered, and their usages should be limited.…”

Feeling at home in school: Migrant youths’ narratives on school belonging in Flemish secondary education

“…However, the underlying understanding behind these different terms is generally ‘the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included and valued by others in the school social environment’ (Goodenow, 1993: 80). A growing body of research has looked into the effect of school belonging on a range of educational outcomes, using mostly quantitative methods and approaching it as a psychological state of wellbeing (DeNicolo et al, 2017; Halse, 2008; Saraví, Bayón and Azaola, 2019). Overall, these studies suggest that when students’ need for a sense of school belonging is met, this will positively influence their educational achievement and their participation in the schooling institute (e.g.…”

“…In this context, scholars argue that school belonging is about more than merely a state of psychological wellbeing and call for a broader understanding of the notion that also pays attention to the way in which institutional forces and practices work to include and exclude particular groups of students from specific educational spaces (see e.g. DeNicolo et al, 2017; Saraví et al, 2019). As highlighted by Cuervo and Wyn (2014) when approached as multidimensional and dynamic, the ‘metaphor of belonging’ can contribute to unravel processes of inequality, as especially those who are the most disadvantaged in education often work the hardest to belong.…”

“…Relationships and attachments, however, do not exist in a social vacuum and are influenced by dominant perceptions about particular social spaces and groups (Saraví et al, 2019). Consequently, the way specific educational spaces or groups of students carry social prestige or are negatively stigmatised may impact students' sense of school belonging.…”

“…Relationships and attachments, however, do not exist in a social vacuum and are influenced by dominant perceptions about particular social spaces and groups (Saraví et al, 2019).…”