Creating a sense of membership in basic education: the contributions of schoolwide events

This study investigates the ways that schoolwide events can contribute to the creation of membership in a school community. An essential aspect of school life across grade levels and national contexts, the sense of membership refers to a situation in which a student is accepted as part of a group by others and feels connected with the other members of the community. The importance of membership has been highlighted in international studies that have shown the positive relation between students sense of school belonging and several academic and non-academic features of their lives, such as their motivation for learning and general future orientation. To increase the knowledge of how school practices can support students sense of membership, this study focuses on schoolwide events, including celebrations, theme days, and other organized activities for the entire school community's participation. This study's main research question is as follows: How do schoolwide events contribute to students experiences of membership in the school community through a) personal-level experiences, b) school community-level practices, and c) representations of culture? To answer this question, the study approaches the notion of membership from various disciplinary perspectives that originate from psychology, sociology, and educational sciences. The key concepts of this study are social integration, sense of belonging, and social representations of cultural communities that are investigated in the educational context of schoolwide events. This study consists of qualitative interview data from both students (Study I, data gathered in winter 2013 2014) and teachers (Study III, data gathered in autumn 2011), as well as quantitative survey data from students (Study II, data gathered in autumn 2013). Data were collected from four secondary schools of basic education (serving 13 16-year-old students) in the southern area of Finland. The student data were collected from three schools (referred to as Schools 1, 2, and 3), while the teacher data were collected from a fourth school. This study's main findings answer the research question by showing that schoolwide events can contribute to students experiences of membership by providing them with positive interpersonal encounters with their peers and in the school as a social community. The results also indicate that experiences of membership are disrupted by negative peer relations as well as by unfair and hasty practices when organizing events. Regarding cultural representations, the findings show that the events do not support students interpersonal understanding of various cultural traditions in any particular way, but instead the events focus on creating memberships in the broader context of the national (Finnish) community by transmitting its traditions. On the other hand, the results demonstrate that the notion of tradition is fluid and subjective to interpretation. The findings also indicate that students social and emotional experiences and personal involvement in schoolwide events are more remarkable aspects for creating membership than the factual content of the events. The findings also reveal that teachers and students approach the question of community building from different perspectives. Teachers emphasize the role of national traditions, while students call for inclusive events. However, both groups regard schoolwide events as avenues from which experiences of community and membership may emerge. Concerning the study's practical implications, the results emphasize the important role of schoolwide events in the social life of the school and the need for researchers and practitioners to pay closer attention to such events. Based on the findings, this study also proposes practical implications for the development of the content and practices of schoolwide events in Finland and in other countries.