Sense of Belonging

Whenever we join a new community, it's only natural to worry about how we'll fit in and whether we'll find success.

As students begin a new school year or transition to a different school, they're likely to wonder, what will the other kids think of me? What about the teachers? Will I make friends? Am I going to be able to do the work? And if they hit bumps at the start which many do, they might also ask, am I the only one struggling? Psychologists call these kinds of feelings belonging uncertainty.

That sense of worry and doubt affects us all.

I've known adults who graduated from the most selective universities in the country and years later, they confess feeling that they've been admitted by a mistake and while this phenomenon can affect all of us in one form or another, it can prove especially acute among historically marginalized groups including black and Latino students, women who enter quantitative fields.

As teachers, one of our primary goals is to help all students feel welcomed and valued.

An important goal by itself.

But our feelings of belonging as the model in session two suggests can also directly influence academic performance.

Here's the theory.

Belonging uncertainty can make normally minor events such as being left out of a group or social activity, being criticized or slighted seem large.

They feel like not just an isolated incident but a larger pattern confirming that we don't belong.

Over time, this feeling can increase stress, undermine student motivation and engagement and as a result, lower achievement.

How does it work? Research suggests that some portion of our cognitive resources is derailed when we're worried about these things.

Not fitting in, being stigmatized or even just doing poorly academically.

Your own experiences may confirm this.

Mine certainly do.

On the other hand, research shows that having a positive sense of belonging improves academic performance.

You've probably felt this too.

So how can we remedy these worries and buttress belonging for our most vulnerable students both throughout the year and during those important transitions when those feelings may be exacerbated? Greg Walton and Geoffrey Cohen of Stanford University along with some other researchers have pioneered two types of interventions to address just these concerns.

They're each aimed at sending key messages to affected students.

The first message is you are not alone.

The truth is at some point, almost everyone thinks they're the only one struggling.

As teachers, we must help students understand that struggling in a new environment and worrying about fitting in are not unusual.

The best strategy is to discuss these issues candidly and confidently.

We shouldn't minimize or push away those feelings but rather acknowledge them as normal.

The second message researchers recommend is to convey that feelings about belonging uncertainty will fade over time.

Early distress is normal and it's temporary.

In other words, things get better.

One surprising finding is that interventions like these don't require much time.

In several studies, just one 30 to 60 minute session brought significant and long lasting impacts.

Many of the studies included older students sharing their initial experiences with younger students.

So college seniors worked with freshman.

High school juniors with ninth graders.

Positive results came even with junior high students helping elementary students and multiple methods all worked.

Talking directly to students, offering written testimonials, creating videos.

In each case, the older students shared their initial feelings of belonging uncertainty and how they lessened with time.

And just this one simple intervention helped the younger students allay their own concerns and gather strategies for adapting.

These messages were often reinforced by saying is believing exercises.

In other words, following up later with brief writing exercises or discussions.

After hearing from older peers, the younger students then talked with each other then they were actively engaged in the process by writing an essay or letter about what they learned.

Students were also told their writing might be shared with future students thus reinforcing that what they were feeling was normal.

Another form of intervention that counters belonging uncertainty is called values affirmation.

In this practice, students are asked to reflect on personal values that give them a sense of identity and belonging.

Often, this reflection is done through structured in class writing.

In one such study, seventh graders were asked to write about what was most important to them.

For example, their personal interests, their relationships with friends and family.

The exercise only lasted 30 minutes but it boosted student achievement, an affect that remained years later.

One explanation for the impact of these self-affirmation exercises is that they remind students about what they value and their own good qualities.

This in turn shores up their sense of integrity and self-worth leading them to see negative events as less threatening.

These exercises work to reduce stress.

Such simple interventions all aimed at buttressing belonging have yielded dramatic and long lasting results.

They've improved academic performance in GPA, bolstered health, increased homework completion, even reduced dropout rates.

They've also been shown to best help the students who need it most, those vulnerable to stereotypes in the USA including minorities and women in math, physics and engineering fields.

Some interventions have even narrowed the achievement gap between black and white students.

Do I belong? It's a question that many students wonder and worry about through their time in school.

We know their sense of belonging in our classrooms and schools or lack of it can influence deeply their performance and well-being.

Some students will enter a classroom more readily feeling they belong but others won't until we convince them that they're valued and they belong as equals.

As teachers then our role is to help all students feel accepted, supported and safe so that they can succeed in school and in life while they're our students and long after.