Students' Need for Belonging in the School Community

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. American Educational Research Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Review of Educational Research.Defining sense of community as a feeling of belongingness within a group, this article reviews research about students' sense of acceptance within the school community to address three questions: Is this experience of belongingness important in an educational setting? Do students currently experience school as a community? And how do schools influence students' sense of community? Conceptually, the review reflects a social cognitive perspective on motivation. This theoretical framework maintains that individuals have psychological needs, that satisfaction of these needs affects perception and behavior, and that characteristics of the social context influence how well these needs are met. The concern here is how schools, as social organizations, address what is defined as a basic psychological need, the need to experience belongingness. The findings suggest that students' experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students' experience of membership in a supportive community.Hargreaves, Earl, and Ryan (1996) echo the voice of many researchers and educators who believe that "one of the most fundamental reforms needed in secondary or high school education is to make schools into better communities of caring and support for young people" (p. 77). The term "community" is used in different ways in the literature, but common to many of these definitions is the concept of belongingness (Solomon, Watson, Battistich, Schaps, & Delucchi, 1996). While there are differences in opinion on specific characteristics of organizations that constitute communities, as Furman (1998) explains, community is not present until members experience feelings of belonging, trust in others, and safety.Reflecting that perspective and the definition guiding this paper is that of McMillan and Chavis (1986). The term "community", they maintain, has two uses. The first refers to a territorial or geographic unit; the second is relational and describes the quality or character of human relationships. In the present discussion, the primary concern is the relational nature of community within organizational boundaries, and specifically those of the school. Operationally, McMillan and Chavis propose that community consists of four elements: mem-323 This content downloaded from 130.240.43.43 on Thu, 19 Sep 2013 07:34:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsOsterman bership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and a shared emotional connectio...

Social Aspects of CSCL Environments: A Research Framework

“…Group cohesiveness is the tendency of a CSCL group to have a sense of unity while working on the group tasks and to satisfy the emotional needs of its members (Carron & Brawley, 2000). A feeling of belonging-the feeling that one is connected and accepted by the other CSCL members-is important as it gives the group members a group identity (Goodenow, 1993;Osterman, 2000). Trust is defined as the cognitive and affective assurance of group members that they respect each other's interests and, therefore, can orient themselves toward each other's words, actions, and decisions with an easy conscience (Chang & Lee, 2007;Emans, Koopman, Rutte, & Steensma, 1996).…”

Les liens entre le jugement de l’enseignant sur les biais d’autoévaluation de compétence de l’élève et la qualité de leur relation

“…Les élèves qui ressentent du soutien et de l'attention de la part de leur enseignant se disent plus motivés (Goodenow, 1993 ;Maulana, Opdenakker et Boske, 2014 ;Murdock et Miller, 2003) et ont un meilleur rendement scolaire (Goodenow, 1993 ;Midgley, Feldlaufer et Eccles, 1989). Inversement, les élèves qui rapportent des conflits avec leur enseignant se disent moins motivés et réussissent moins bien à l'école (Hamre et Pianta, 2001 (Finn et Rock, 1997 ;Osterman, 2000 ;Wang et Pomerantz, 2009). Enfin, selon Hamre et Pianta (2005), la qualité des interactions quotidiennes dans la classe, sous forme de soutien émotionnel de l'enseignant, atténuerait le risque d'échec scolaire précoce.…”

Social Integration and Students’ Perceptions of the Transition to Middle School

“…Middle schools are multifaceted social settings that present diverse opportunities for students to experience social connectedness. Students develop a sense of belonging, which reflects their general feelings of being valued, accepted, safe, and connected to others within the school community (Goodenow & Grady, 1993;Osterman, 2000). While sense of school belonging is the affective tie that students maintain to their schools on the whole, students also have relational experiences that connect them socially to the school, including acceptance from peers and integration into the peer group system of the sixth grade.…”

“…Many studies have demonstrated the connection between students' sense of school belonging, or feeling socially supported and accepted in school, and positive middle school adjustment (Goodenow & Grady, 1993;Juvonen, 2006;Osterman, 2000). Transitioning middle school students begin school with familiar and unfamiliar peers as well as new rules, expectations, and teachers (Hardy et al, 2002).…”