Voices from the Field: What Do Turkish Students Suggest? A Socio-Ecological Study on School Belonging

The study of school belonging has become increasingly important as the sense of belonging to school is a source of motivation that influences students’ behaviour. This study aims to explore students’ views on what society, principals, teachers, guidance counsellors, families and students should do to increase students’ sense of school belonging. The study is a basic qualitative research. Eight hundred and seventy-six high school students from Türkiye were asked to answer open ended questions about what school stakeholders should do to ensure that students feel a sense of belonging to school. This study found some different results compared to previous studies by revealing the expected behaviour of stakeholders outside the school, such as society and family. Belonging to school is highly complex and linked to some of society’s most challenging problems and therefore needs to be examined within the school and its environment. For this reason, the research findings on what stakeholders should do to increase school belonging are presented within the framework of the socio-ecological systems model.