Engagement and sense of belonging to the school in Secondary Education: concepts, processes and lines of action

Abstract

This article1 reviews the literature or state of the art on two fundamental concepts of school connection. On the one hand, the terms school engagement and disengagement and, on the other, the sense of belonging, both in the context of Compulsory Secondary Education, as this is the educational stage where most cases of school failure and dropout occur. In this sense, failure and dropout continue to be the main concerns of the education system and many of the answers to this fact can be found in the school connection of students. This article includes personal reflections on the subject, an extensive overview of the terms mentioned, relevant authors, fields of work, research carried out, the difficulties and confusion in terminology due to the existence of a wide variety of terms and, finally, the variables that come into play in these processes. Next, a work proposal is offered through the reconversion of the affecting variables that can be considered as action measures. In conclusion, the processes of engagement and disengagement, as well as sense of belonging, are key elements in understanding school failure and dropout.