Major Influences on School Belonging

Abstract

To begin to address the research–practice gap in the school belonging literature, we first need to understand the landscape—what factors and variables influence and relate to a sense of belonging? In this chapter, we discuss what prior reviews and studies have identified as correlates of school belonging. These factors cluster into various themes, including demographic variables (e.g., gender, school type, school location, age and race/ethnicity), individual factors (academic motivation, personal characteristics, emotional instability and mental health), social factors (peer support, teacher support and parent support) and environmental variables (e.g., perceptions of fairness, sense of safety).