WHAT IS BELONGING ?
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tion and listening results in learning that no one currently at the table likes ham . Inclusion for this dinner would be marked by a menu in which everyone at the table has a voice and would ensure that there is something for everyone . Everyone may start to feel like they belong at the table .
It is worth noting that , for a school , the importance of belonging is not simply for the purpose of “ everyone feeling good .” In this context , a synonym for belonging is understanding . The research is clear that when people feel that they are understood , even if there are elements in their environment that they dislike or disagree with , they perform better on all measures .
Equity The presence of inclusion results in people beginning to be their real selves in a community .
When a community starts to let go of fairness meaning everyone gets the same , to fairness meaning people receive what they need , belonging is deepened , and this is equity .
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As understanding of the members of the community deepens , the community may come to see that there are issues to be addressed . Going back again to the Thanksgiving table , now that people feel a part of the meal , the conversation at the table may become more forthcoming . It emerges that while most of the family lives in New York , the family members with slender means and several children live in Philadelphia . Thus , a mark of equity would be to have the dinner in Philly , even though the majority of the guests live in New York . Another example would be a conversation I had years ago with a public school superintendent who had just won several honors for dramatically improving test scores in his district . He said that out of fairness , student academic support services had been based on the number of students in a school . He said that he had changed the formula to fund services based on the number of failing students , which dramatically increased the services to students who needed it at no additional cost . When a community starts to let go of fairness meaning everyone gets the same , to fairness meaning people receive what they need , belonging is deepened , and this is equity .
Belonging A school may accurately say that it is functioning on the level of equity , but some members still report that they feel as if they do not belong . Just because a community is doing everything as it should , does not automatically mean that members of the community will feel like they totally belong . The history of the
Page 4 Summer 2023 CSEE Connections