What Students in Their First Year of School Need to Belong

"A member of our research team handed a five-year-old a crayon and asked her to draw what makes her feel like she belongs at school. She drew herself surrounded by Lego blocks. "I feel like I belong to school when I am playing Lego," she wrote. This wasn't what we expected in our latest study. After analyzing drawings and conversations with 108 children in their first year of school across Melbourne, our research team discovered something important."

"Sixty-one percent of children drew themselves playing. Nearly half of these drawings showed children playing alone. Not lonely. Not isolated. Purposefully engaged with familiar objects that created their sense of security. One boy filled his entire page with Lego pieces, drawing himself as a faceless figure with wiggly arms reaching for blocks. The toys dominated. Building (pardon the pun) through familiarity."

Children know what makes them feel they belong and often identify familiar objects and routines as key sources of belonging. Sixty-one percent of children drew themselves playing, and nearly half of those depicted solitary play with familiar toys that provided security. Seventy-three percent of first-year students reported familiarity with daily routines as important for belonging. Some children reported feeling belonging simply by seeing a teacher, while others required active engagement. Emphasizing constant structured social interaction can overlook opportunities for belonging that emerge during unstructured, safe play times centered on familiarity.

Read at Psychology Today