Trendbook Excerpt: A Sense of Belonging Can Drive Up Engagement

This is an excerpt from the Student Wellness Outlook chapter in the 2018-2019 NAIS Trendbook.

By Debra P. Wilson

As part of ongoing efforts to improve student well-being, “belonging” has gained more attention in recent years. The benefits of belonging have been given high visibility abroad through tools like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).1 Higher education institutions are also developing related programs and services as part of their efforts to recruit and retain students of color and first-generation college students.2

Belonging is commonly defined as “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment.”3 Students who feel they belong have friends at school. They understand and are comfortable with their place within the school’s culture and feel at home in that environment.

Belonging is a powerful tool. It fuels student engagement, which drives success in academics. Indeed, one study found that for eighth-graders in all ethnic groups, belonging levels predicted reading or math achievement, or both, better than prior achievement.4 Feelings of belonging in high school have also been found to correlate with student success in college.5 And, finally, belonging has an overall positive impact on students’ mental health, including their understanding of their self-worth and their lowered levels of anxiety and depression.6

Many independent schools pride themselves on creating a welcoming community in which all students feel they belong. But in an Independent School Health Check survey, only half of the high school students felt that the statement “I feel like I belong at this school” was true for them. Among African-American students, only 39.6 percent reported feeling that they belonged, and 22 percent said that the statement was either untrue or mostly untrue. In addition, 18.7 percent of Hispanic students reported that “I feel like I belong at this school” was either untrue or mostly untrue.7

By making more efforts to increase feelings of belonging, schools may not only engage students more now but also improve student achievement and rates of well-being later.

The Trendbook, NAIS’s annual guide to issues affecting independent schools, includes research, data, strategic questions, action steps, and resources. Read about additional trends in enrollment, financial aid, leadership, teaching and learning, and more in the 2018-2019 NAIS Trendbook, available in the NAIS Bookstore.
 

References

  1. OECD, “Student Engagement at School: A Sense of Belonging and Participation: Results from PISA 2000”; online at http://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33689885.pdf.
  2. Beckie Supiano, “How Colleges Can Cultivate Students’ Sense of Belonging,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 14, 2018; online at https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Colleges-Can-Cultivate/243123.
  3. Carol Goodenow and Kathleen E. Grady, “The Relationship of School Belonging and Friends’ Values to Academic Motivation Among Urban Adolescent Students,” Journal of Experimental Education, 62, 1993, pp. 60-71; online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220973.1993.9943831.
  4. Jan N. Hughes, Myung Hee Im, and Paula J. Allee, “Effect of School Belonging Trajectories in Grades 6–8 on Achievement: Gender and Ethnic Differences,” Journal of School Psychology, December 2015; online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4644492/.
  5. Laura D. Pittman, and Adeya Richmond, “Academic and Psychological Functioning in Late Adolescence: The Importance of School Belonging,” Journal of Experimental Education, 75, 2007; online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JEXE.75.4.270-292.
  6. Christopher D. Slaten, Jonathan K. Ferguson, Kelly-Ann Allen, Dianne-Vella Brodrick, and Lea Waters, “School Belonging: A Review of the History, Current Trends, and Future Directions,” Educational and Developmental Psychologist, June 2016; online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304358355_School_Belonging_A_Review_of_the_History_Current_Trends_and_Future_Directions#pfc.
  7. 2017-2018 Independent School Health Check.