Belonging in the school: Factors affecting the perception of primary school students

• Published in: Netla
• Main Authors: Pálsdóttir, Kolbrún Þ., Stefánsson, Kolbeinn Hólmar, Gunnþórsdóttir, Hermína
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2022
• Subjects: belonging; primary students’ experiences; school environment; social inclusion; Að tilheyra; upplifun grunnskólanemenda; skólasamfélag; menntun án aðgreiningar; félagsleg samsömun; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3474; https://doi.org/10.24270/serritnetla.2021.10

Educational policy in Iceland emphasizes the importance of supporting and respecting student diversity and wellbeing. The aim of this article is to shed light on how social factors such as students’ gender, immigrant background and financial status shape their experience of belonging or not belonging to the school community. Previous research on “belonging” indicates that students who have a strong feeling that they belong to the school community generally do better academically and have a stronger position than those who feel marginalized, for example in terms of interest in school, self-image, classroom behaviour and academic achievement but a negative experience is associated with, for example, school drop-out (Christenson and Reschly, 2010; Korpershoek et al., 2020; OECD, 2019). Those students who are less likely to experience belonging are at greater risk of being exposed to negative social influences, and are more likely to have low self- -esteem, and suffer from anxiety and depression (Allen et al., 2018; Gillen-O’Neel and Fuligni, 2013).The aim of this article is to explore how gender, risk behaviour and financial status may connect to either belonging or not belonging to the school environment in the Icelandic context. The research questions are:How does gender, immigrant background and financial status affect students’ perception of belonging within the school environment?To which extent do relationships with parents, self-image and risk behaviour mediate the connection between the different background factors (gender, background and financial status) to students’ perception of belonging within the school environment?This research is linked to Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children, a cross-national study carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. The study was launched in 1983 and is conducted every four years. Iceland has participated since 2006.The data used here is from an electronic survey carried out during the winter 2017–2018. The HBSC data collection covers three age ...