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The trouble with schools is that not everyone feels they belong in them.
I’ll start with a big apology for the gap between this article and my last one. I’d just started a series on the nature of schools, and I’ve gone and left you all on the edge of your seats waiting in anticipation for the next exciting instalment. But worry no more, I’ll aim to keep these far more regular to keep you going through the winter months.
I mentioned at the end of the last article that I’d like to explore some of the values and principles which ought to underpin the vision and purpose of schools, regardless of faith, culture or personal beliefs. I refer to the purpose of ‘schools’ here rather than schooling in general, however many of the points I will raise over the coming articles, will also be very relevant to those who home school.
Okay, enough of the preamble, this article as the title suggests highlights the importance of schools creating a sense of belonging not only for their students, but also their staff and the community they serve.
I’ve already written about the increasing numbers of parents who are choosing to home school their children and how it is becoming increasingly easy to do this through online learning platforms and communities. Although there are many reasons for this increase (as we will see, as I begin to publish some of the interviews with home-schooling parents), I’d argue that if schools ensured their values and practices focussed upon creating and maintaining a sense of belonging for their community, they would hold on to their students and begin to attract back those who have left to home-school.
Schools should be the focal point of the community they serve. They can provide a hub that brings people together, face to face, in an environment where young people:
feel secure and safe.
learn to make sense of a world which is constantly changing.
are listened to.
have a say in how the school organises itself to respond to their needs.
take an active and accountable role in their own learning.
achieve their full potential.
are supported to develop good habits which they will take with them into adult life.
are encouraged to try out new ideas and take risks.
receive and reflect with others on their progress and development.
collaborate and contribute to their learning and the learning of others.
develop high aspirations, self-esteem and confidence in an atmosphere of unconditional respect.
have base camp for life from which to soar!
To achieve this and to continue to attract students from our country’s diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, we must create an ethos of genuine engagement and empowerment for the learner and a more responsive and relevant student-centred approach.
If you work in a school or are a stakeholder in a school – whether as a member of staff, parent, community group, local business or, most importantly, as a student – consider the questions below and begin to discuss these within or with your school:
In what ways does your school embrace – within its curriculum, ethos and practices – the world within which your students live?
What role (realistically) do students in your school have in making strategic decisions with regard to the vision, direction and running of the school?
To what extent does your school allow students to choose the ways in which they learn (i.e. where, when, what and how quickly)?
Has your school explored the reasons why there may be restrictions on the freedoms a student can be given (for example, how they learn)?
To what extent does your school believe that it and other schools are the prime (if not the only) environments within which students can be educated in preparation for their adult and working lives?
What barriers, if any, does the way your school organise its timetable or timings of the day work against developing ownership of learning?
What would unconditional respect for students look like in your school?
How does your school building and site encourage students to develop a sense of belonging (e.g. comfort, familiarity, safe and secure, ownership)?
To what extent do you feel that you are working in partnership with your school?
How well does your school interact with the local community?
How would you like to see your school interacting and working in partnership with the local community?
It is vital that we all play a part in the future development of schools in our communities. The first step is to create a sense of belonging, but to do so we need to respect and work with who and what young people are and the environment & world in which they live. We also need a deep knowledge and understanding of what stage our students are at in terms of their physical, mental and emotional development. In addition, we must understand the temptations, distractions and pressures that society will throw at them today and in the future. Only if we can assimilate all of this, can we work with young people to facilitate their development and send them on their journey towards fully formed adulthood.