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    Fostering a sense of belonging at an international school in France: An experimental study


    Dunleavy, Gráinne and Burke, Jolanta (2019) Fostering a sense of belonging at an international school in France: An experimental study. Educational & Child Psychology, 36 (4). ISSN 0267-1611

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    Abstract

    Aim(s): The sense of belonging is considered one of the basic human needs, supporting engagement in education and increasing wellbeing. Yet few studies have attempted to enhance levels of student belonging in school, which is what the current study aimed to do. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a classroom-based, peer intervention to enhance students’ sense of belonging Method/rationale: An experimental study was carried out with 55 fourth and fifth grade students, aged nine to eleven, at an international school in France. Two measures were used: The Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM), which measured students’ sense of belonging, and the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) evaluating their life satisfaction. Data were collected from the experimental and wait/control group before, immediately post intervention and a month later. Findings: Results of the full-scale tests demonstrate statistically significant growth in mean values in both the PSSM school belonging measure and the MSLSS student life satisfaction measure. Statistically significant growth was also found when the peer group questions were separated from the overall scale, but not in the friendships’ subsection of the MSLSS. Limitations: Future studies should consider a larger sample and an experiment with students from at least two schools. Conclusions: Results provided evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention to enhance school belonging and student life satisfaction.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: sense of belonging; wellbeing; positive education; international school; identity; values and experiences;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Education
    Item ID: 14056
    Depositing User: Jolanta Burke
    Date Deposited: 23 Feb 2021 09:55
    Journal or Publication Title: Educational & Child Psychology
    Publisher: British Psychological Society
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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