WHAT IS BELONGING ? school , or the history of that person , may limit their ability to feel like they belong , today . This is the final stage where a school must abide . I was at an LGBTQ gathering of students and faculty and remember listening to a student who said he did not feel safe coming out at his school . His school had done tremendous work to ensure that LGBTQ students felt that they belonged ; I would judge it one of the “ safest ” schools on the East coast . His genuine feeling of being unsafe did not mean that the school was doing something wrong ; my guess is he just needed more time to experience them doing the right things for him to feel safe . If we go back to our evolved Thanksgiving table with its inclusive menu now held in Philly , a new member of the family may not feel a sense of belonging at their first meal . This would be especially true if the new person ’ s experience of Thanksgiving dinners had been negative in the past .
My concept of “ abiding ” should not be used as an excuse for a school to stop learning and growing . Rather , abiding means that belonging is a badge for a person to give , not for a school to claim . It must do all . The hope is that those community members who do not yet feel ready to give the badge of belonging will do so after repeated good experiences .
In conclusion This path towards belonging is a complex one . Schools are not a monolith , and various elements of a school community are probably at different points on this path . Progress on this path may , at times , not seem like progress . Progress can be marked by conflict
“ This path towards
belonging is a complex one . Schools are not a monolith , and various elements of a school community are probably at different points on this path .
”
as some members of a community might be resistant to change . As other members of a community might get a taste of belonging , they may start to push to move faster towards a greater sense of belonging .
Another issue is , “ who should belong here .” To be a school marked by belonging does not need to mean that it is the right place for all children . Many independent schools have noble missions in which they are experts at educating a particular kind of child .
This belonging path started with independent schools being founded around a deep sense of belonging , based in who we keep out . But belonging at the end of this journey is based in a commonality that flows out of a deep sense of how much this community reflects , grows , and supports the members who are in it . •
CSEE Connections Summer 2023 Page 5