Students with a strong sense of belonging in school perform better academically (Cai et al., 2022); conversely, when students don’t feel that they belong, their learning suffers. And the impact of belonging extends beyond academics: it impacts well-being. According to research, students who report a higher degree of school belonging experience better mental health and are at lower risk of suicidal ideation or attempts (Boyd et al., 2023).
But what does it mean to belong? Stanford researcher Geoffrey Cohen (2022) proposes the following definition: “Belonging is the feeling that we’re part of a larger group that values, respects, and cares for us—and to which we feel we have something to contribute.” There are several important aspects of this definition:
- Belonging is a feeling—in other words, we know it when we experience it.
- Belonging involves a larger group that exhibits certain behaviors toward us. We feel valued, respected, and cared for by that group.
- And belonging includes a feeling that we have something of worth to contribute to that group.
Each part of Cohen’s definition is important for educators to consider when creating spaces where students and colleagues know they belong. To explore belonging, we created a two-part video. First, we asked high school students what it means to belong and what belonging feels like. Second, we asked a team of 9th grade educators how it feels to belong to their team and their school.
Many Dimensions of Belonging
As you watch the video, you’ll note some common terms that both students and educators use to convey their sense of belonging. In fact, they echo a lot of the terms used by Eric Carter, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University, to summarize evidence for creating a sense of belonging for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In Figure 1, we provide a list of each of the “dimensions of belonging” that Carter (2021) identified. We include sample indicators of each dimension for students and for staff.
Belonging can’t be left to chance: When we center it in our work, the social capital of the entire school community grows.
