Abstract
The philosophy of middle level education is to intentionally create a learning environment that supports every young adolescent. The literature around engagement points to the need for students to experience (among other requirements) a sense of belonging at school (SOBAS). When the need for belonging is not achieved there may be significant consequences, including an impact on intellectual performance, and hence, learning potential may not be achieved. For students with marginalized identities, an intensification of factors that create challenges places them at-risk of disengaging and their sense of belonging at school is more likely to be compromised. Nurturing SOBAS is positively associated with the retention of students who are at-risk of dropping out of, thereby being an aspirational goal of education. Methods: The findings of a systematic literature review related to young adolescents and the importance of SOBAS forms a focused literature base. We highlight findings from a study that explored the effectiveness of engagement strategies for marginalized students in one educational jurisdiction in Australia. Data in the form of a series of interviews and focus groups conducted with 25 students, 25 of their teachers, and 39 school leaders provides a rich data set for thematic content analysis. Inductive analysis and in vivo coding led to a framework that summarized each of the sub-group data sets to convey emergent themes. Results: Five themes related to SOBAS emerged from the data: (a) Relationships in School; (b) School Climate; (c) Pedagogical Practices; (d) Specific Programs and Activities; and (e) Other Issues, mainly variables such as family, mental health, trauma and poverty that impacted on a student’s SOBAS. Conclusion: The systematic literature review and the findings of the empirical study presented in this paper highlight aspects of SOBAS that can be formalized into a series of strategies to increase retention of marginalized students.
Highlights
The Australian education system has a variety of school structures, determined by the eight states and territories that are each responsible for their respective education system
The nurturing of receptive, school-based interpersonal connections with students, which are characterized by being both social and academic, was consistently identified in the literature as being of major influence for laying the foundation for middle level students’ sense of belonging at school (SOBAS) [14,15]. This was noted as being important in the transition from primary school to high school [16,17]
There is scope to extend the theoretical and methodological frames and parameters around studies into SOBAS to include consideration of the impact of factors such as bias in the curriculum and disciplinary enforcement, which can be disadvantageous for Indigenous students and students from other marginalized backgrounds
Summary
The Australian education system has a variety of school structures, determined by the eight states and territories that are each responsible for their respective education system. Schooling is two-tiered with students attending school from around age 5 or 6, through to age 17 or 18, see Figure 1. Students undertake seven years typically in a primary school setting, with a preparatory year through to the end of Year 6. Students move to a secondary school, which extends for six years, from. There is a trend towards identifying the middle years as a separate tier, sometimes in a separate school, covering Years 7 to 9, with students aged from 12 to 15 years. This is the age group of interest in this paper
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