DEVELOPING A SENSE OF BELONGING IN THE CLASSROOM
How can we insure that each student feels that they belong in our class? In the first article in this series I outlined Glasser’s five basic needs. In this article I will discuss what I consider the most important of these basic needs, BELONGING. Everyone has an innate need for Love or Belonging as Glasser refers to it in the educational context. We need to feel that we belong somewhere, to some group. The family is the first group we will experience. The love and attention of our parents and siblings help us to grow and develop. The classroom and school community is the second important group to which a student may belong. Students gradually develop one or more peer groups.
Some situations may occur in the family that can cause a child to lose his sense of belonging. A death, marital problems, separation or divorce, the stress and family problems resulting from loss of the family income, may inadvertently create in the mind of a child the idea that he is not wanted, is a burden, or possibly the cause of the problem.
These issues may be temporary, but when a student feels this way he needs to find another group to replace the family in meeting his need to belong. The ten-year-old may place great importance on having or being a “best friend”. For teenagers, it may be having a girlfriend or boyfriend that occupies their every waking hour. In adolescence we often see the peer group assume this role. Gang dress and behavior are the identifiers that provide the sense that the adolescent belongs and that there are people who care about him. This option can be a positive substitute for the family, but can also have a negative impact.
Another option and hopefully a more positive one is the teacher, classroom, and school community can fill this need and prevent the sometimes negative long-term impact of choosing peer groups. When a teacher or school is able to create a caring community most students will find this environment more closely related to their family situation and choose the school as a temporary or perhaps permanent replacement for the family in meeting their belonging needs.
Think back to your adolescence. As you began to develop a sense of independence from your parents most likely your new identity was centered around school and friends. In grade school, you went back to school in September anxious to see the friends you hadn’t seen since June. In high school hanging out in the cafeteria with your friends in the morning before class was probably the only thing that got you out of bed on time for class. Teachers and the school community play a critical role in meeting this need in all of our students.
Students need to feel they belong, that they are part of a group. If they can identify themselves as part of your class they will be more involved in the academic activities as well as the social ones. Not everyone can be on the school sports team or be a member of the chess club or drama society. But they can be a group leader in class. They can be on one of the debating teams in class. They can be responsible for the class pet. Activities that involve them in the classroom and school community will help satisfy that need to belong.
Here are some suggestions to develop a sense of belonging for each student in your class.
- Provide opportunities for all students to get to know each other
- Include group activities in your program, change groups regularly.
- Involve students in classroom life, class jobs, responsibilities, and decision making.
- Interview each student early in the year to get to know them, their interests, hobbies, pets, favorite subjects, and hopes for the year.
- Acknowledge birthdays.
- Recognize achievements outside of school eg. winning a soccer tournament, badges in scouts, or brownies.
- Send a personal note (in August) welcoming the student to the class.
For a more in-depth discussion of Glasser’s five basic needs and how to make them part of your classroom life take a look at Classroom Management Made Easy from Amazon.