Examining predictors of school belonging using a socio-ecological perspective

Belonging is a fundamental need that represents a powerful and innate drive that begins shortly after birth (Allen, Gray et al., 2021; Allen, 2020; Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Lieberman, 2013). It is often conceptualised to relate to social interactions and interpersonal relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995), however, more recent and broader definitions of belonging also consider the intrapersonal, temporal, cultural, environmental, and geographical contexts and experiences related to belonging (Allen, Kern et al., 2021). Baumeister and Leary (1995) postulated that without a sense of belonging in at least one domain of a person’s life, the likelihood of negative behavioural and psychosocial outcomes is quite high. For decades now, researchers have linked a strong sense of school belonging to a plethora of academic and psychosocial outcomes for youth, including academic achievement, motivation, emotional wellbeing, and internalizing problems (e.g., Allen et al., 2018; Arslan, 2018, 2021b; Arslan & Duru, 2017; Goodenow & Grady, 1993; Pittman & Richmond, 2007). However, few studies have examined, either theoretically or empirically, which factors impact or predict a strong sense of school belonging using a socio-ecological lens.

Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model of human development has been connected to this construct of belonging by previous research (Allen et al., 2016; Allen, Vella-Brodrick et al., 2018). Specifically, Allen and colleagues (2016) adapted Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) model and applied it to the construct of school belonging. In their proposed model, Allen et al., (2016) identify a school system as a society with its own values and culture. Starting from this idea, they apply Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) theoretical framework to the school system. Allen and colleagues (2016) place the student at the centre of the model and assert that their sense of belonging is either fostered or hindered by their experience with different layers of the school society. While borrowing from the systems-based terminology of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) model (i.e., microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem), Allen et al. (2016) redefine and refocus each level to reflect systems within educational spaces.

At the student level, Allen et al. (2016) include personal characteristics, such as emotional stability and academic motivation. They define the microsystem as the level of support the student receives from their teachers, parents and peers. The mesosystem includes school policy, practices, extracurricular activities, staff development and other factors at work under the roof of a specific school. The next level, the exosystem, includes influences acting on a specific school, such as school, neighbourhood, and extended family. The last level reflects a broader societal influence, including factors such as history, social climate, legislation and governmental influences on education (Allen et al., 2016). The present study adopts the social-ecological model of school belonging proposed by Allen et al. (2016) to examine the following variables of best-fit offered by PISA (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, 2019): achievement motivation, test anxiety, collaborative disposition, teacher unfairness, parental emotional support, disciplinary climate, economic, social, and cultural status and the countries’ affiliations to the OECD. Each of these variables have been found to be strongly associated with school belonging in the literature (Allen et al., 2018; Korpershoek et al., 2020).

Although a multi-level approach can be used to explain school belonging, it should be noted that, at its core, the belongingness hypothesis (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) highlights the importance of interpersonal relationships and belongingness to groups for positive psychological outcomes. Thus, when applying this hypothesis within the school context, it is probable that, across the different levels of the socio-ecological framework, positive interactions with classmates, teachers, and a sense of belongingness to school would be more likely to improve the experience of academic achievement and student well-being. This is evident in Allen et al.’s (2018) meta-analysis of 51 previous studies, which included 67,378 secondary school students and identified a range of factors that relate to a sense of school belonging. The strongest factor that emerged for a student’s sense of belonging was the relationship students had with their teachers. Students reported a greater sense of belonging when they felt they had teachers who respected and valued them, who were perceived as being fair, who were available for academic and social support, who promoted positive relationships with students by showing they cared, and who encouraged mutual respect all of which is in line with the assumptions of the broader literature (e.g., Allen et al., 2018; Allen & Kern, 2017; Allen, Slaten et al., 2021). Parents and peers were also found to be important in the aforementioned analysis (Allen et al., 2018). Although conflict with parents may arise, supportive parents are an important source of emotional support (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). A parent’s perception of school and the extent to which they value and support the educational experience of their children is vital. Having peers who provide social and academic support creates a mutual sense of belonging (Allen et al., 2018). It is also known that the social and emotional competencies of students, such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, coping skills, adaptability, having prosocial goals, as well as academic motivation (or achievement motivation) and the ability to make and keep friends, impacted how students felt about school (Allen, McInerney et al., 2021; Allen et al., 2017; Durlak et al., 2011; Zins et al., 2004; Zins & Elias, 2007). An emphasis on social and emotional learning and achievement motivation through the curriculum is key to boosting student relationships and overcoming negative attributions (e.g., test anxiety and perceptions of teacher unfairness). A comprehensive socio-ecological framework for understanding the complex dynamics of school belonging offers an opportunity to examine the many hypothesised contributors to school belonging through the educational data collected by PISA (i.e., achievement motivation, test anxiety, collaborative disposition, teacher unfairness, parental emotional support).

School engagement is another concept that is closely linked to the school environment and, although it is quite distinct from school belonging, it is especially relevant within the belonging literature (Allen & Boyle, in press; Furlong et al., 2014). As a multidimensional construct, different types of engagement have been recognised. Two that are particularly relevant here are behavioural engagement, which involves students’ participation in school-related activities, and emotional engagement, which is more concerned with the emotional connection between students and their schools or teachers (Bakadorova & Raufelder, 2017; Estévez et al., 2021; Fredricks et al., 2004; Skinner et al., 2009). Many researchers have pointed out that the emotional engagement construct is similar to that of school belonging (Finn, 1989; Skinner & Belmont, 1993).

Noting this similarity can be useful as students from countries with different cultures have been shown to have varying degrees of school engagement (Shcheglova, 2018), with PISA data even showing that engagement levels are also measured in terms of a student’s sense of belonging (Willms, 2000). Furthermore, many of the social factors considered within the socio-ecological model may also be considered from the perspective of engagement (Bakadorova & Raufelder, 2017). As a result of this bidirectional relationship, identifying the factors which influence school belonging will not only allow us to understand variations in school belonging, but will also enable us to draw connections with other concepts (e.g., engagement) and their associated outcomes (e.g., academic achievement).

The current study is an attempt to begin examining the different layers of this socio-ecological model of school belonging with youth cross-culturally (Allen et. al., 2016; Bronfenbrenner, 1979). More specifically, the researchers examine constructs that represent the innermost layers of the model: student (individual) level, microsystem, and mesosystem. This was accomplished by utilising a large international student-level data set from PISA.

PISA collects data on behalf of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on a global scale from both member and non-member countries. The OECD is an international organisation that collaborates with governments from 38 countries in the creation of national policies that aim to promote economic growth and development. Being a member of the OECD is an indicator of the country’s state of economic development and of sharing a set of neo-liberal values (Bouhali, 2015), as these are requirements to become a member of the organisation (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, 2021).

Data are collected every 3 years from 15-year-old participants in grade 7 or higher. This data represents 29 million students and aims to evaluate educational systems around the world, especially with respect to mathematics, science, and reading. PISA also conducts assessments of cross-curricular competencies, including students’ sense of school belonging.

In findings published in 2018, PISA reported that, across OECD nations, students’ sense of belonging has declined since 2003, with the most noticeable deterioration occurring between 2012 and 2015 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD (2017a); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, 2019).

While many correlations between theorised factors and school belonging have been studied in various research projects, there has been limited investigation and holistic analysis regarding how many of these factors comprehensively impact school belonging. The predictive capability of broader socio-ecological factors remains largely untested (e.g., Allen et al., 2016). The aim of this paper is to address this gap in the research and assess whether the variables presented in the PISA data—achievement motivation, test anxiety, collaborative disposition, teacher unfairness, parental emotional support, disciplinary climate, economic, social, and cultural status and the country’s affiliation to the OECD—have significant relationships with and/or predictive utility for school belonging when modelled within a socio-ecological framework. The researchers organised these possible predictors of school belonging into the three aforementioned layers as follows: student-level constructs (achievement motivation, test anxiety, collaborative disposition), microsystem level constructs (teacher unfairness, parental emotional support), mesosystem (discipline climate), and macrosystem (economic, social and cultural status and OECD country) based on the conceptualisation of the socio-ecological model found in Allen et al. (2016). By grouping variables into blocks representing the socio-ecological layers and examining the changes in the student, school and country residual variance, this study will provide empirical evidence for the hypothesized layers. A previous meta-analysis (Allen et al., 2018) and prior findings based on the school engagement literature, in which there are multitudes of significant factors, lead to the expectation that each block (re: layer) will be statistically significant. It is also expected that almost all variables will have a positive relationship with school belonging, as identified in previous literature (e.g., Slaten et al., 2016; 2018; O’Brien & Bowles, 2013). The exceptions are teacher unfairness and test anxiety, given the negative connotations of these two constructs.