Belonging Research At The College Level

HSC  STUDY   BUDDY   1     ADVANCED  ENGLISH  CONTENTS   PAGE:  BELONGING   BELONGING  ESSAY  –  PAGES  2-­‐3   BELONGING  SHORT  STORY  –  PAGES  4-­‐5

In 1987, Tinto wrote a book called Leaving College Rethinking the Causes. Tinto is one of the researches that many other authors refer to in business student persistence. He began looking at college drop outs in general and published his book in 1994. He analyzed the connection of social and intellectual health. He ties both of these aspects and considered them as experience that students connect to during their studies.

Explore how this is evident in you prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.

The purpose of Guiffrida’s (2006) paper is to provide empirical research evidences to support Tinto’s (1993) theory of student departure and highlighted the limitation of the theory by recognizing its failure to incorporate the study of psychological and cultural variables; therefore, it becomes incomplete and inappropriate when applying the theory to deal with minority students.

Concept, perceptions and ideas to belong or not to belong differ from person to person. This is due to experiences that shape ones personality that come through personal, cultural, social and historical context. The idea of belonging allows one to have some sort of connection and communal with people, places, groups, communities and the wider world. In contrast not belonging causes one to suffer from alienation, exclusion and marginalisation. As a result these factors can cause an individual to be at different states of depression depending on one’s personality and situation. However in society, belonging has become and essential to life. Many texts have explored the notion of belonging and not belonging; the play Rainbows

“We belong … like fish in water. We’re in our environment.” This quote from the New York Times shows the perception of belonging as the idea about connecting to a place, person, group or a community. 'Feliks Skrzynecki' by Peter Skrzynecki, 'I'm nobody! Who are you?' by Emily Dickinson and 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden & Shaun Tan show the concept of belonging as being contrasted towards the New York Times quote, showing the alienation and non-existent connection towards it. These texts have furthered my understanding on the perceptions of belonging by recognising the different concepts of connection to people, places and things.

The Hispanic/Latino community has been known to be underrepresented on college campuses, both at the community college and four-year university level. Factors such as low-income households, poor or harsh living conditions, under-educated parents, cultural and family commitments, and unfamiliarity with the college process, all serve as unfortunate barriers that keep Hispanic/Latino students from reaching the goal of attaining college degrees. Although these barriers keep many students from succeeding, many others overcome these obstacles and continue on their paths to creating a better future for themselves. They choose to look past the expectations that society has for them and break out of the stereotypical mold. However, Hispanic/Latino students face, yet, another challenge upon successfully making it on to a college campus... the challenge of graduating.

Belonging consists of a struggle with opposing pressures. A desire to belong also consists of emotional conflicts and struggles between being acknowledged while also remaining as an individual and retaining personal ideals which may ultimately result in a connection. This is explored in Emily Dickinson’s selected poetry I died for beauty, but was scarce and I had been hungry all the years , as well as Scott Westerfeld’s novel Uglies. These texts all depict a struggle between being recognised and accepted in society and the desire to remain true to one’s self, exploring the paradoxical nature of belonging which, on one hand, provides fulfilment, but also removes a sense of personal identity.

Connection is the restorative force by which individuals reaffirm or transform their identities. Ultimately, it is the ability to form meaningful and sustaining relationships that allows individuals to assess and affirm their values. Raimond Gaita’s memoir, “Romulus, My Father” (RMF), Evan Hunters short story “On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ (OTSB), and “The Oasis”, a Shark Island Documentary, explore this notion through employing the universal themes of compassion, alienation and love as they enrich characters sense of hope, significance, comfort and security- fundamental to a sense of belonging, or paradoxically lead to a sense of isolation and exclusion.

Promotion of Social Connections Campus and community provide a welcoming and inclusive environment that respects individuals while promoting community values. Pariticipation in the Colleges Transition Collaborative (CTC) Pre-Matriculation Social-Belonging Intervention exposes incoming students to stories that normalize and typify the challenges associated with transitioning to college. This fosters a different mindset in which belonging is viewed as a process that develops over time. With this mindset, students come to acknowledge that it is normal for everyone to face challenges and that they have the ability to learn and improve. Diversity programs encompass multiple efforts such as the availability of campus program houses and a Pre-Freshman Summer Program, as well as events designed to foster inclusiveness, for example the Orientation program, The Identity and Belonging Project which portrays diverse student narratives about how undergraduates discover a sense of

The authors explore the "Belonging Hypothesis" as proposed by Baumeister and Leary (2009) who based it on the idea that humans were made with "the need to belong" after their extensive review. The authors split the hypothesis into 3 parts as follows -- 1. The larger a person's "need to belong" is, t he larger the effect of homesickness. ; 2. By the substitution hypothesis, the more close friendships made in a new place, the smaller the effect of homesickness. ; 3. Feeling more adapted to a new location will decrease the effects of homesickness and the need to sustain existing relationships. The authors carry out 2 studies to help support the "Belonging Hypothesis", one correlation based and the other experimental based. The correlational

"It is only once we leave the familiarity of our own world that we come to an appreciation and understanding of the importance of belonging," that's how the saying goes. But, is it actually true? Can we not define our sense of belonging until we have a longing for it? It is an interesting concept, especially in a world so threatened by images of the other, who threatens the ideology behind our group ideology. In a world that is not our own, can we ever feel like we belong?

Tinto’s model of student Retention, also known as the model for voluntary student departure from college is founded in Van Gennep’s framework of cultural rights. Tinto’s theory states that it is imperative for college students to receive support from their institution to integrate into the college community, increasing their commitment to the institution, thus increasing their likelihood of graduating (Tinto, 1993). Tinto models his theory after two previous works, the first being Durkheim and his theory that states people who decide to die by suicide, do so because they have not been fully integrated into society; the second, Van Gennep’s concept of rites of passage which argues that a separation from former community associates is essential

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.

The causes of student alienation are multifaceted including curricular, institutional, and socio-cultural factors (Brown et al., 2003; Redden, 2002; Rokach, Bauer, and Oreck, 2003; Taylor, 2001; Trusty and Dooley-Dickey, 1993). Alienated students feel incongruent with curricula