Feeling Part of the School and Feeling Safe: Further Development of a Tool for Investigating School Belonging

Abstract

A sense of school belonging has been associated with a number of positive outcomes for young people Two core aspects are feeling part of the school, and feeling safe. This paper examines qualitative data from a mixed methods questionnaire designed to inform schools on the barriers and supports to participation in school life and the relationship with students' feelings of belonging. It contributes to the limited existing qualitative data and can be set alongside students' quantitative measures to provide new insights. We explore responses from 595 students, to the open questions of a survey. Students frequently mentioned relationships with teachers and peers, often in the context of feeling safe to be themselves, suggesting that feeling part of the school and feeling safe are intertwined. The comments reveal the importance of being recognised and accepted and not having their identity purely defined in relation to attainment on a narrowly defined curriculum.

How the Bronfenbrenner Bio-ecological System Theory Explains the Development of Students’ Sense of Belonging to School?

“…The reason behind the increasing desire to attend college could be attributed to the long and short-term impact of the school belonging on students' psychological and academic outcomes (Allen et al, 2021). School belonging is also strongly associated with many positive outcomes that are related to students' well-being (Porter et al, 2021) which, during childhood, predicts positive adulthood well-being as indicated by Richards and Huppert (2011) in their longitudinal birth cohort study.…”

“…Another essential practice is the teachers' ability to control misbehavior and bullying (Porter et al, 2021). Gleason (2011) indicated that teachers should limit bullying and provide support and care to students who fall victim to bullying (Hamm et al, 2011).…”

“…Goodenow (1993b) explained that school should encourage students to become involved in extracurricular activities as membership and belonging can be attained through shared social relations between students and other school members. Taking part in extracurricular activities could enhance the students’ sense of agency (Porter et al, 2021) and improve their academic achievement and social competence (Ashley, 2014; Baria & Gomez, 2022). Students also have the chance to form relationships outside of the classroom with adult school personnel such as coaches and teachers (Baria & Gomez, 2022) Ashley (2014) has posited that, under such circumstances, their motivation and engagement increase and their non-academic abilities improve.…”

Evolución, desafíos y barreras frente al desarrollo de una educación más inclusiva

“…En este sentido sería muy relevante, por ejemplo, analizar el papel que están llamados a tener los centros de educación especial y otros servicios especializados en este proceso, tarea que, no obstante, hemos podido abordar en un trabajo reciente (Echeita y Simón, 2019). Si, por otra parte, cerráramos el foco de nuestra atención sobre los procesos psicosociales en el aula que más habríamos de cuidar, tendríamos que estar hablando y aprendiendo sobre los procesos que conducen a la participación social y al sentido de pertenencia escolar, claves a la hora de conseguir la educación inclusiva de calidad que todavía no tenemos (Porter et al, 2021).…”

Progress, challenges and barriers to the development of more inclusive education

“…In this sense, it would be very relevant to analyse the role of Special Education Centres (SEC) and other specialised services in this process, a task that recent work has tackled (Echeita y Simón, 2019). On the other hand, if we were to close the focus of our attention to the psychosocial processes in the classroom that we should most care about, we would have to talk and learn about the processes that lead to social participation and a sense of school belonging, which are crucial to achieving the quality inclusive education that we still do not have (Porter et al, 2021).…”