This paper is a meta-analysis, overviewing more than fifty other studies on individual and social level factors that influence school belonging. Its intention is to identify factors schools should emphasize to best support students. It focuses on specific themes – academic motivation, emotional stability, personal characteristics, parent support, peer support, teacher support, gender, race and ethnicity, extracurricular activities and environmental/school safety – and explores the association between these themes and school belonging. The strongest predictors were found to be teacher support and what the paper frames as ‘positive personal characteristics.’ Effects were found to be stronger in rural than in urban locations, raising questions of how strongly the themes are correlated with mainstream or conventional understandings of identity and emotional experience.
Allen, K., Kern, M. L., Vella-Brodrick, D., Hattie, J., & Waters, L. (2018). What schools need to know about fostering school belonging: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30(1), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-016-9389-8
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