Creating A Sense Of Belonging¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 5 studies (3 review, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 theoretical), q1–q4 · 1 of 5 report an effect size

Description¶

Creating a sense of belonging means deliberately shaping classroom norms, relationships, and feedback practices so learners perceive themselves as accepted, respected, and capable members of the learning community. It is carried out through early social integration activities, normative framing of difficulty, attributional feedback, and structures that give every learner a recognized role and voice.

Design Implications¶

Belonging is a core social motive; when learners doubt their social fit, they disengage defensively, and this effect is strongest during transitions and for students from stigmatized or underrepresented groups Walton & Cohen's brief belonging intervention produced lasting GPA and well-being gains for marginalized college students. [+S]. Belonging supports intrinsic motivation because relatedness is one of three basic psychological needs in Self-Determination Theory Autonomy supports intrinsic motivation. [+S]. Perceived belonging also predicts persistence: learners who feel connected to their school are more likely to keep trying through difficulty Self-efficacy predicts academic persistence. [+M].

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Early, structured opportunities for learners to form peer connections (Check-Ins, small-group work) before high-stakes tasks
• Norms that frame struggle and early failure as normal and temporary, not as evidence of not belonging
• Feedback that attributes difficulty to strategy and effort rather than to fixed ability, and that communicates high expectations ("wise feedback")
• Visible roles and contribution structures so every learner has a recognized place (Collaborative Learning)

Constraints¶

• One-off icebreakers or "belonging posters" without follow-through can backfire; learners detect inauthentic inclusion, and superficial efforts do not change attributional beliefs [-M]
• Belonging interventions show weaker, less durable effects for majority-group or well-supported students, for whom baseline belonging is already high [~S] — applying them indiscriminately dilutes impact
• Competitive grading curves and public ranking of performance actively undermine belonging by framing peers as threats [-M]
• If group membership is made salient without genuine equal-status participation, it can heighten stereotype threat rather than reduce it [~M]

Implementation Variability¶

• Brief social-belonging interventions: short reading-and-reflection activities (as in Walton & Cohen's college studies) that normalize worry about fitting in as transient
• Wise feedback: written feedback pairing high standards with explicit assurance that the student can meet them
• Structural approaches: cohort models, learning communities, and advisory systems that embed belonging in program design rather than single activities
• Pedagogical practices: regular Check-Ins, Class Discussion norms that distribute voice, and community-building routines

Target Learners¶

• Students in transition periods (first-year, first-generation, transfer students) where belonging is most fragile [+S]
• Students from underrepresented or stigmatized groups in a given setting, who face chronic belonging uncertainty [+S]
• Disengaged or low-persistence learners, for whom belonging uncertainty often drives withdrawal [~M]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Persistence and engagement goals: sustaining effort through difficulty
• Affective outcomes: motivation, well-being, and willingness to seek help
• Indirect support for cognitive goals: belonging frees attentional resources otherwise consumed by social-evaluative threat [~M]

Instructions¶

1. Establish community norms early: co-create expectations for respectful discussion and normalize error as part of learning, using Check-Ins to surface how students are experiencing the course.
2. Structure early peer interaction: use small-group tasks from Collaborative Learning in the first weeks so every learner forms at least one working relationship before high-stakes assessment.
3. Frame difficulty normatively: explicitly teach that early struggle is universal and temporary, not a signal of poor fit.
4. Deliver wise feedback: pair corrective feedback with statements of high expectations and confidence in the student's capacity to meet them.
5. Sustain it: belonging erodes without reinforcement; maintain roles, check-ins, and inclusive discussion norms across the term rather than treating belonging as a first-week event.

Related Strategies¶

• Wise Feedback — the feedback practice most directly tied to communicating belonging through evaluation
• Normalizing Struggle — reframes difficulty so it is not read as evidence of non-belonging
• Community Building — the broader relational work this strategy draws on
• Cultivate mathematics belonging by publicly recognizing every student as a mathematical thinker

Examples¶

• Walton & Cohen's social-belonging intervention — a one-hour reading-and-writing activity in which students read stories of older students whose belonging worries faded over time and wrote about their own experience; it raised GPA among African American college students and narrowed the achievement gap for years afterward (Science, 2011).
• First-year seminar / learning community programs (e.g., the national Kingsborough/CCRC learning community model) — cohort scheduling plus integrated advising embeds belonging structurally.
• Growth-mindset and belonging messaging in course syllabi — instructors stating in the syllabus that questions and errors are expected, and that all students are capable of success with effort and support.

Key Sources¶

• Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331(6023), 1447–1451. doi:10.1126/science.1198364
• Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students' need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323–367. doi:10.3102/00346543070003323
• Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30(1), 79–90. doi:10.1002/1520-6807(199301)30:1<79::aid-pits2310300113>3.0.co;2-x
• Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social-psychological interventions in education: They're not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 267–301. doi:10.3102/0034654311405999
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. doi:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01