"I Get You Because I'm Similar to You": Preservice Teachers' Social Geographies of Belonging

• In Event: Creating Spaces: Moving Forward Trust and Belonging in Teacher Education

Abstract

Sense of belonging is a fundamental human need. Scholars have revealed that it is also a vital component of effective learning environments. Despite its importance, relatively little work has explored antecedents and outcomes of sense of belonging in graduate school settings. Grounding our research in the theory of social networks, we asked the question: what social processes are related to tie formation preservice teacher belonging networks? We conducted an explanatory sequential mixed methods study using exponential random graph models (ERGMs) and interviews to explore feelings of sense of belonging for 67 preservice teachers’ in two cohorts of a university-based teacher education program. We found that perceived similarities (homophily) and increased opportunities for interaction (via propinquity) increased PSTs feelings of belonging.

Authors

• Peter Bjorklund, University of California - San Diego

• Alan J. Daly, University of California - San Diego