Exploratory study on barriers and supports to sense of belonging in secondary education

Abstract

The high rates of school failure and dropout that concern Spanish education system have not always been aimed at appropriate actions for reduction. It is considered that schools can display a series of actions that modify the educational disengagement of our students. In this work, it is understood that the feeling of belonging and the school connection are predictors of school failure and drop out, so it is necessary to take care of the relationships of our students, the curriculum or the methodology in order to strengthen a more inclusive education. This study is a micro-project belonging to a big one: Innovation Networks for Educational and Social Inclusion project, in which the questionnaire What works for you? Barriers and supports at school is applied. A descriptive and comparative analysis is performed. The results show positive feelings at different times and places in the center, given the different forms of classroom work and a good sense of belonging and pride towards the center. The comparative analysis indicates significant differences in membership in terms of gender and in all the factors studied in terms of the number of courses in the center and the existence or not of socio-family difficulties. In conclusion, this exploratory study is offered like a starting point towards improvements and actions that are born from the school itself.