The Need to Belong in Secondary School

Front matter

Sharon du Plessis-Schneider

The Need to Belong in Secondary School

A Social Work Science Study of Austrian and Australian Students

Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations

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Preface

This book contributes towards identifying and explaining the social mechanisms in school that can facilitate or hinder student “need to belong” fulfilment. Based on my research findings, general guidelines for social work action are put forward. This is set against the backdrop of social works triple mandate as a profession and discipline (Staub-Bernasconi, 2016; 2018).

Our emotional-cognitive brain processes, such as perception, feeling and reasoning, are essential for understanding the external world — not in an isolated vacuum, but through social exchange with other human beings. These social interactions are driven by complex biopsychic processes which are further complicated by the fact that human beings are members of one or more social system/s that we shape and are shaped by (Bunge, 1977b, p. 457).

One such social system that plays a central role in the daily lives of children and adolescents is school. It comprises different social levels such as the peers, the class cohort, the teachers, the school management and the staff, e.g., the school social workers.

The theoretical framework developed for the research is informed by human needs theories that span the 20th and 21st centuries (Arlt, 1921, 1934; Maslow, 1943, 1954; Obrecht, 1996, 2005b, 2009; Magdefrau, 2006). Human needs are the cognitive mechanisms of neural processes in the human brain that regulate our behaviour and bio-values. Needs set human beings in a specific framework that establishes us as biopsychic and social organisms within our social environment. How did this baseline of human need inform my research?

In what can be described as a deep dive into scientific enquiry, student statements about the school social system and its different social levels were elicited and analysed. It is about listening, thinking, reflecting and asking questions to uncover the individual student’s specific form of integration within the different social levels of the school. This was key to identifying and explaining how the school social system and its different social levels tick from students’ viewpoint through investigating their verbalised feelings of belonging. A distinction was determined between belonging as a biopsychic state and the “need to belong”. Belonging is a mental and psychic state that an individual student can reach due to the emotional-cognitive processes of the human brain — when resources or satisfiers for the “need to belong” fulfilment are accessible, i.e., for them to feel a sense of belonging.

The “need to belong” encompassed students’ biopsychic and social need tensions based on Werner Obrecht’s list of needs (2009, p. 27). By distinguishing between a student’s “need to belong” and a state of belonging, emphasis is placed on the practical issues that individual students may encounter in meeting their needs while considering the strategies to achieve belonging. The interplay between the different social levels and the individual students directed me towards values and norms about human need tensions. The main point is to determine whether the different school levels promote or hinder the students’ need fulfilment and facilitate their wellbeing — the term for the biopsychic state of a person with sufficient need regulation and satisfaction (ibid. 2009, p. 19).

My empirical research substantiates the complexity mentioned above by exploring and examining the nexus and interface where the individual student, classmates, teachers, and school management convene and interact on the different social levels of the school system. An example of this is how the human organism — a biological and psychic system, a single entity (individual) in their integration and position within a social system — cooperates with another human beings raising the questions why, how, and to what end?

In response to these questions, focus group interviews were conducted in two school sites to elicit student statements that addressed one or more biological, biopsychic and social needs (Obrecht, 2009, p. 27). The first focus group interviews took place in a secondary school situated within a relatively densely populated, medium-sized Austrian town. This school enrols a lower- to middle-class ethnic and linguistic diverse student population. The second set was conducted in a secondary school based in an urban area located in the south-eastern part of Australia. It has high admission standards that enrols a middle-class, ethnic and linguistic diverse student population. Both are government-run public schools. Students live within the local school “Schulsprengel” (Austria) and catchment area or zone (Australia) specific to the school to enrol.

Post-data analysis, action guidelines are put forward to suggest ways to remedy the social problems of individual students — social problems that are theorised as a lack of access to material and immaterial resources for need fulfilment.

The research met with the policy requirements of the Austrian District School Authority and was therefore approved to be conducted in one Austrian secondary school. Scientific-ethics approval for the study conducted in the Australian secondary school was issued by the University of Siegen and endorsed by the State Government Victoria Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Working with Children Check Policy, and associated procedures in Australia.

There is a fine art to academic expression and writing. It required deep practice to bring the researcher's voice to the foreground and brevity to take a clear stand in presenting an argument. The attention to detail and clarity is intended to invite the reader to take the arguments on board and endorse my thesis.

Acknowledgements

Over the past decade, there have been many people whose generous contributions oftime and expertise were integral to completing this book.

I want to acknowledge the students, teachers, school management, staff and social workers of the schools in Austria and Australia where the fieldwork was conducted. Thank you for granting me access to your feelings, thoughts and views on how social-exchange relationships with others play out at school: what works well, where change is needed, and the rationale for change.

The successes achieved in the research, data analysis and write-up of the findings are attributed to the people who encouraged and supported me on this ambitious and memorable journey.

My deepest gratitude is extended to my first doctoral supervisor: Prof. Dr Phil. Gregor Lang-Wojtasik for his ability to challenge me to investigate alternative perspectives. I am in awe of his invaluable insight, knowledge and clarity. His highly esteemed support and encouragement got me back on track and to believe in myself as a researcher.

I am deeply indebted to my second doctoral supervisor: Prof. Dr Phil. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi, whose deep understanding, unparalleled knowledge, ability to challenge, enduring patience and encouragement were vital to completing the book.

Special thanks to Prof. Dr Hans Walz, dear friend and mentor, for his active support in my quest for knowledge and valuable suggestions and kindness. His notion of an academic sailboat was a great way to move forwards with everyone on board. This continues to inspire me on my voyage as a scholar and educator.

I sincerely thank Prof. Dr Matthias Trautmann, valued advisor, for his guidance and expertise throughout my research and fieldwork conceptualisation.

I gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Prof Dr Shulamit Ramon and Prof Dr Darja Zaviršek, founding members of the International Doctoral Studies in Social Work (INDOSOW), for their many beneficial insights and their enthusiasm and stimulating discussions. The INDOSOW Summer Schools and my semester abroad at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge are highly valued experiences that shaped my journey from a social work practitioner to a researcher and scholar.

I extend my gratitude to Prof. Dr Sheryl A. Hemphill for her assistance during my fieldwork in Australia and the opportunities granted to me as a research fellow at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.

I wish to thank the Austrian District School Authority and the State Government Victoria Department of Education and Early Childhood Development for their official approval to conduct the fieldwork.

I would like to express my appreciation to Mariola Fouché for her moral support, confidence and integrity. Her unwavering belief in my work was most encouraging.

A big thank you to the friends, students and colleagues who supported my efforts — always ready to discuss, encourage and provide me with insights and inspiration.

Finally, I must acknowledge the support I received from Ursus, my husband and best friend: I am deeply grateful for his understanding and encouragement as I spent many evenings and weekends cradling the research, analysis and write-up. Thank you for putting things on hold through all the years of bringing this book together. It always seems impossible until it is done. It is to him that I dedicate this work with gratitude and love.