School belonging
[3][4][5] Conversely, students who do not feel a strong sense of belonging within their school environment are frequently described as being alienated or disaffected.
[12] Their analyses revealed that a significant proportion of students around the world are lacking strong feelings of belongingness to school.
[2][3] School belonging tends to decrease as students grow older, as indicated in several different research studies.
[13] This trend has been replicated in many other studies, suggesting that school belonging declines once students reach adolescence.
[13][14] A meta-analysis of 51 studies (N = 67,378) by K. Allen and colleagues (2018) identified that there are multiple individual and social level factors that influence school belonging.
For example, research has demonstrated that students' grade point averages (GPAs), a common measure of academic achievement, are positively associated with school belonging.
Academic motivation encompasses behaviors such as homework completion, setting goals, expectancy of success, and effort and engagement within the classroom.
[2][8][15] Carol Goodenow and Kathleen Grady found each of these sub-sects of academic motivation to be significant predictors of students' perceptions of school belonging.
[1] More recent research has replicated these findings, suggesting that academic motivation plays an important role in developing feelings of school belonging.
A study by Xin Ma found that students' self-esteem had the greatest impact on school belonging compared to all other personal factors.
[2] Emotional instability can further influence school belonging by negatively affecting students' educational experiences.
[8][15] Teachers can help instil school belonging by developing a safe and healthy classroom climate, providing academic and social support, fostering respect amongst peers, and treating students fairly.
[2] Teachers can also promote feelings of school belonging by being friendly, approachable, and making an effort to connect with their students.
[3][8][15] The relationship between gender and school belonging is largely inconclusive because research has produced conflicting results.
[4] Research has shown that being involved in extracurricular activities can positively influence students' perceptions of school belonging.
[24] Other studies have replicated this relationship, highlighting the importance of participating in extracurricular activities for developing school belonging.
Extracurricular activities may influence school belonging by providing collaborative and long-term interactions between students and their peers.
[2][8][20] Research has shown that when students feel a greater sense of school belonging, their mental health and well-being is improved:[27] they exhibit greater levels of emotional stability,[2] lower levels of depression,[13][14] reduced stress,[18] and an increase in positive emotions, such as happiness and pride.
[20] Students who possess school belonging experience more positive life transitions as well, which can have important implications for psychological health and adjustment.
[18] On the other hand, students who do not have a strong sense of school belonging are at risk for a number of disadvantageous psychological and mental health outcomes.
[2] Students who lack a sense of belonging at school are at significantly greater risk for exhibiting anxiety, depression, negative affect, suicidal ideation, and overall developing mental illness.
Greater feelings of school belonging are associated with decreased misbehavior and misconduct, such as fighting, bullying, and vandalism.
[2] Students who possess feelings of school belonging exhibit reduced risk of having a stroke or disease.
[32] In addition, perceptions of school belonging have a significant inverse relationship with risk-taking behaviors, including substance and tobacco use and early sexualization.
"[33] Research has found the PSSM to have high validity and reliability, attesting to its status as a valuable and functional measure of school belonging.
"[37] In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held an international convention to develop tactics for bolstering students' perceptions of school belonging.
Research has indicated that social and emotional learning opportunities may also increase a sense of school belonging in students.
