Academic Motivation and Group Belongingness of Regular and Irregular Students

A common human characteristic is the yearning to feel a sense of belonging through connections and different forms of relationships made in life. A sense of belonging or not belonging can emerge from feeling connected to people and places, whether they have been freely cast there or not. An individual will only feel a true sense of belonging through the understanding of those connections, which are created by experiences and can only come within.

* Our growing understanding of the belonging concept: The desire to be included is strong and the action of being excluded is humiliating:

School is a place where individuals grow, develop, and explore their future interests. This necessitates that the classroom is an environment where students feel supported, respected, and competent. I

It is important to foster a learning environment in which students feel safe, relaxed, secure, confident and valued (Gravells A 2012 pg25) especially for learners who may have had negative experiences in traditional classroom environments. Students often describe supportive learning environments as expanding their sense of family and enhancing their self-esteem, which, when combined with increased literacy skills, help students take more chances in pursuing their goals.

Yes, It IS an essential human need, but…. then…. What happens when an individual doesn’t feel like they belong. What if… this same “essential” sense of belonging, the same “need” to belong, is what barricades and imprisons us? What effects can not belong have on individuals?

Student engagement or the extents to which they participate in activities are key factors to the successful integration into college (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). In the publication, Seven principles of good practice for undergraduate education, Chickering and Gamson (1987) underscored seven categories of effective educational practises, which are student-faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on task, high expectations, and respect for diverse talents and ways of learning. The overall scores of studies over decades indicates that student engagement in activities benefit all types of students in different degree fields. The positive interaction with activities creates the needed outcome including grades, satisfaction, and persistence. These give the student the devotion to other educational purposeful activities.. As noted by Chickering and Reisser (1993): “living on campus has long been associated with persistence and student success”. Forest (1985) also performed a study about student academic ability and found that institutions that provided the most extensive orientation, activities and advising programs had higher graduation rates. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) reported that students in residences with strong academic orientation towards academics generally

How has your understanding of the concept of belonging been shaped by the representation of relationships and events that you have encountered in the texts you have studied for the Area of Study: Belonging?

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.’

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their 
experience of belonging.’

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.” Discuss this view with detailed reference ( 2010 HSC Question)

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

The concept of belonging is essential. To belong is to form a connection which will allow a sense of identity, without this we lose our humanity; however, conformity is in a sense a facade of belonging, as it restrains our freedom and forces us to only mimic. My studied texts show how society demands us to conform, yet conformity prevents a sense of true identity being ever created.

When students feel excluded or not part of, academic achievement decreases (Brown, 2007). The importance of a positive student-to-teacher relationship is critical in order for students to succeed and find themselves fit in the world of academia (Anderson, Nelson, Richardson, Web, & Young, 2011). Interestingly, the data gathered from this study is consistent with previous research on barriers to student achievement. Anderson et al., (2011) goes on to suggest that there is a direct correlation between student behavior, positive or negative, and the teacher’s relationship with a student. When considering this, it must be understood that the relationship between the student and teacher, whether positive or negative, contribute to students’ academic outcomes and sense of belonging.

The seminal works of Spady (1970) first focused on the precursor concept of integration in higher education by adapting Durkheim’s (1951) social causation theory to create a model for college dropouts. Later, Tinto’s (1993) theory of student departure was developed to provide a framework for understanding what factors and environments impact a student’s decision to drop out. Tinto (1993) theorized that the first-year semester is a prime environment for students to consider social integration and campus engagement. Tinto’s (1993) theory of student departure is a longitudinal model that explains the interaction between the student and the institution which results in individuals dropping out, and identifies the factors that result in different types of dropout behavior.

When children are put into educational facilities, they get a chance to connect and surround themselves with others of the same age group. Schools can also have significant influence on a person’s individuality as well as peer groups, which influence a student’s academic integrity greatly. A student will not perform well no matter what the case is, if there is negative influence from his peers and their school environment. They affect a person’s attitude, personality in a positive or negative manner.