A Culture Of Belonging Within A School Setting Essay

My cultural ancestry comes from a Cuban and Mexican decent. I have chosen to write about my Cuban side because I can relate to them more than I could with my Mexican side. I was raised around my Cuban family and would occasionally see my Mexican side due to them living so far away. I have spent a lot more time associating with Cubans and have adapted to more of their habits.

    1      BELONGING   ESSAY   Perceptions  of,  and  attitudes  towards  belonging  are  varied  and  complex,  with   individuals  shaped  by  their  social,  historical  and  cultural  contexts.   Despite  being   inherent,  a  sense  of  belonging  may  be  experienced  through  an  array  of  affiliations  with   people,  places  and  events  which  enrich  feelings  of  acceptance,  understanding  and  thus   create  an

Administrators must also take into consideration the persons whom the school will serve, including the students, parents, teachers, and community members. Each person who comes into regular contact with the school. Individuals each bring with them a separate sense of person, worth, and culture that is formed by membership in multiple communities consisting of work, school, religion, and social circles. It is within these communities that persons find a sense of belonging which perpetuates the order and cooperative function of schools. When persons lack a sense of belonging, they will resort to their own subculture, which may go against what the school culture is trying to promote.

In school another thing I have seen and I know everybody else has seen is how segregated schools can be. “When you entered sports debates, you became a part of a community that was not limited to your family

As American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez expressed, “Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” Respecting everyone’s culture is a necessity, no matter their ethnic background, or if they stand out in society. Language, customs, food, and religion are all parts of a culture everyone possesses. All individuals have a viewpoint, a perspective of what cultures the world around them is compromised of. The culture in every human influences how they view the world around them by hiding one’s own culture, giving people biased views of others’ ethnicities, and weighing down the minority groups.

Considered a fundamental aspect of being human, belonging is an ambiguous concept which can offer individuals a sense of identity, security and connectedness. Experiences of belonging are closely related to a person’s interaction with others, as positive experiences can enrich their sense of belonging, and negative experiences can limit their sense of belonging. An individual’s limited experience of belonging through their inability to positively interact with others can often incite them to reject the majority through acts of defiance, self-alienation and

An individual’s sense of belonging is based on society and the values reflected by that society. It is human

In growing up in the position of the ‘other’ in society, Smith provides an empowered stance of identity exclusively through the demonstration of cultural hybridity, as evidenced by Millat and his gangster crew, the Raggastani’s. As Millat becomes increasingly connected to a swaggering identity highlighted by Western popular culture, his sense of belonging becomes established with the multicultural mix of South Asian and Caribbean teens he hangs out with: “It was a new breed, just recently joining the ranks of the other street crews. Becks, B-boys, Nation Brothers, Raggas, and Pakis; manifesting itself as a kind of cultural mongrel of the last three categories. Their ethos, their manifesto, if it could be called that, was equally a hybrid thing” (193). Here, Smith uses the Raggastani’s as a symbol representing the emerging identity of a multicultural London transformed by the migration of formerly colonized populations from South Asia and the Caribbean. Their mission, to put the “invincible back in Indian, the Bad-aaaass back in Bengali, the P-Funk back in Pakistani” (193), is about taking their identities which have been devalued in Western society and linking them together through a collective sense of approval. As a productive example of cultural hybridity taking place, they are a direct contrast with the forms of difference and racial purity that the Chalfen`s represent, and the resistance of letting go of traditions that their parents uphold. The group tries on a series

In 1995, Delpit published Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. Although the excerpt analyzed in this paper is from a larger work, it was written by Delpit (1995) as a self-contained speech. This excerpt includes many of the concepts Delpit believes to be the basic cultural conflicts in the classroom, which are stereotyping, child-deficit assumptions and student isolation and invisibility. Delpit's goal is to "remove the dynamic of oppression that are inherent in any classroom…that come together when (primarily white) teachers spend time with 'other people's children'" (Delpit, 1995, pg.69). Through Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, Delpit lays the foundation for multicultural

Our sense of belonging is not only sculpted by our own experiences through what we encounter, but also the experiences of others. By reading and analyzing the authentic experiences Peter Skrzynecki and Sharon Liao wrote about I was able to refine my perception and collective knowledge of belonging and what it entails.

A strong sense of belonging helps children understand and appreciate differences in themselves and others, which ultimately benefits their mental health and wellbeing (DEEWR, 2009). This means that as an educator, I need to ‘think about my own values, beliefs and attitudes related to diversity and differences and acknowledge and address any bias that we may hold. As well as critically examining our own assumptions, ‘cultural competence’ requires us to take a strong approach to countering racism and bias when we encounter it (Miller, 2013). This is a long way from ‘live and let live’ attitude. It involves

Educationalists have suggested that students’ understanding of their community and appreciation of diversity can be endorsed through opportunities to share values and challenge prejudices across the curriculum (DCSF 2007). School X recognises the role students play in the sustenance of a cohesive community. Due to the extremely diverse demographic of the community of Borough M, the council encourages the sustenance of a cohesive community in which all cultures are given equal importance (Gilligan, 2012). School X resonates this agenda, by promoting and celebrating diversity, and as an all-girls’ school, it recognises the importance of empowering young girls to facilitate their ownership of learning and progression. The school has been involved

Lastly, school need to consider two concepts: school environment and student self-concept. Building awareness of identities is quite actual challenger for teachers. Schools should provide a friendly environment to help student’s identity their core value cultural. To

This was an odd feeling. It feels good. Sitting around the table with Molly and David, eating our bowls of chili, makes me feel normal. It feels almost as if I wasn’t the son of a killer, the bad seed, or an abomination to this small town. I relish in the warmth of the laughter and sense of belonging. If only it could stay like this. For a short period of time the voices in my head are calm. They aren’t shouting about all of my flaws or telling me to end it. No one knows about the voices that I hear, only them and myself. As I sit in my chair watching I realize how found I have become of the two people sitting before me. Neither of them had any reason to associate with me, why would they? They could have treated me like the voices in my head

Vallerand suggested that the need for relatedness involves feeling connected (or feeling that one belongs in a social milieu)(p.30). Goodenow proposed that a sense of belonging at school reflects the extent to which