Belonging in the school: Factors affecting the perception of primary school students

Abstract

Educational policy in Iceland emphasizes the importance of supporting and respecting student diversity and wellbeing. The aim of this article is to shed light on how social factors such as students’ gender, immigrant background and financial status shape their experience of belonging or not belonging to the school community. Previous research on “belonging” indicates that students who have a strong feeling that they belong to the school community generally do better academically and have a stronger position than those who feel marginalized, for example in terms of interest in school, self-image, classroom behaviour and academic achievement but a negative experience is associated with, for example, school drop-out (Christenson and Reschly, 2010; Korpershoek et al., 2020; OECD, 2019). Those students who are less likely to experience belonging are at greater risk of being exposed to negative social influences, and are more likely to have low self- -esteem, and suffer from anxiety and depression (Allen et al., 2018; Gillen-O’Neel and Fuligni, 2013).

The aim of this article is to explore how gender, risk behaviour and financial status may connect to either belonging or not belonging to the school environment in the Icelandic context. The research questions are:

How does gender, immigrant background and financial status affect students’ perception of belonging within the school environment?

To which extent do relationships with parents, self-image and risk behaviour mediate the connection between the different background factors (gender, background and financial status) to students’ perception of belonging within the school environment?

This research is linked to Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children, a cross-national study carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. The study was launched in 1983 and is conducted every four years. Iceland has participated since 2006.

The data used here is from an electronic survey carried out during the winter 2017–2018. The HBSC data collection covers three age cohorts; that is, children in years 6, 8 and 10. The headmasters of all compulsory schools in Iceland with children in the age groups indicated above were asked to facilitate the participation of their students. A total of 7,159 students participated in the study, yielding a 54% response rate. 3,540 boys participated, 3,498 girls and 118 students identified as nonbinary or “other”. This article analyses selected questions relating to the topic “to belong” in the school. A response scale to measure school belonging was developed from six items in the study, including the following: Other students accept me as I am, The teachers accept me as I am. The three main variables explored were gender, immigrant background, and financial status. Nevertheless, as the literature suggests, a number of social factors may explain school belonging; furthermore, this study analysed the mediating effects of communication with parents, risk behaviour and self-image on the identified relationships to school belonging.

The findings of this study show that students generally feel that they belong in the school environment and it is only a small group, approximately 4%, who perceive themselves as not belonging. Students who identified the financial status of their family as poor and students who identified nonbinary or “other” were more likely than their peers to experience less belonging to the school community. The overall findings do not show a significant difference between boys and girls. Poor financial status had the greatest mediating effect on how gender relates to students’ belonging in the school community, as boys were less affected by a poor financial situation. Risk behaviour was much more strongly associated with boys’ sense of belonging rather than that of girls, but girls’ poor self-esteem was more closely linked to their experience of not belonging. There was a strong synergy between having both parents born abroad and poor financial status. A strong self-image had a positive effect on the identification of students living in poor financial conditions.

One of the main conclusions of this research is that there is a complex interaction between social factors and young people’s self-assessment which influences how they see themselves as participants in the school community and whether they feel they belong in that community. There are grounds for being concerned about the group of students who have been marginalised, for one reason or another, and who do not feel that they belong within the peer community. The analysis shows that students’ social and economic situation significantly impacts their relationships with peers and teachers within the school, reflecting the social discrimination found in Iceland, as in other societies in the Western world.

The results indicate that action is needed to ensure everyone’s access to the school community and specific attention should be paid to marginalized students. It is the responsibility of the school community to work untiringly at conveying the message to all students that they matter and that they are accepted on their own terms. Teachers have a key role in supporting students and creating a safe and positive school culture. The authors hope the results of this research will encourage teachers and other professionals who work with children to address issues requiring support for those who are less socially integrated.