Belonging 2.0: Resisting a Fairy-Tale Interpretation of Belonging

• In Event: 34.080 - Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: 34.080-3 - Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session 1

Abstract

Supporting and maintaining the academic motivation and achievement of minoritized, adolescent youth in struggling (e.g., Title I) schools, continues to be a major national concern. Adolescents’ sense of belonging within school settings is one construct claiming an increasingly central role in contemporary efforts to find clues to motivational processes within the context in which they occur (Anderman & Freeman, 2004; Faircloth, 2008). Bettez (2006) challenges traditional models of belonging that are built on sameness, are individual-centric and ignore issues of social-justice/social-responsibility. Thankful for this challenge, which it is hoped will serve to strengthen our understanding and application of belonging, this study explores belonging without the presumption that it is an individual issue or built on sameness.

Author

• Beverly S. Faircloth, University of North Carolina - Greensboro