Whanaungatanga and the Science of Belonging
At Kaipara College, whanaungatanga is one of our WAKA values. It speaks to relationship, connection, the sense of belonging to something bigger than yourself. It is easy to think of it as a value that makes school feel warmer. Research suggests it is something more than that, a vital part of how young people learn. A major review of research from 2020, led by Dutch education researcher Hanke Korpershoek and colleagues www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116, brought together 82 studies on secondary school students and their sense of belonging at school. The review looked at what belonging is connected to, motivation, social and emotional wellbeing, behaviour, and academic achievement. Students who feel a stronger sense of belonging tend to be more motivated, more engaged in their learning, and perform better academically. One particularly finding was that students who saw their classroom as a place focused on growth and improvement, rather than just competition or grades, and who felt positively about their overall classroom environment, also reported feeling more strongly connected to their school. In other words, belonging and learning are not separate things running alongside each other. A student who feels like they matter to the people around them is a student whose brain is more available for the work of learning itself. You can see whanaungatanga in action all over Kaipara College. Lately, our students, from Years 9 through to 13, have been visiting local primary schools to share their experiences of being part of our kura. Senior students talking to younger children about what school is like. This is whanaungatanga at work. Those connections, made early and made in person, mean that by the time those younger students walk through our gates, they already know a face, feel a sense of belonging before their first day has even begun. Another recent example of whanaungatanga could be seen at the Tough Guy & Gal Challenge where our students volunteered as marshalls for the race. Following the competition, we received a lovely email from the father of a primary school student who credited the “positive attitude, never-ending energy and enthusiasm directed at my daughter by your wonderful students..” for enabling his daughter to complete the race. He finished his email by saying “If your students who were present on Tuesday are any indicator of what the future holds, we are in good hands”. We thoroughly agree.
The research is a reminder that belonging is not separate from learning, it is part of what makes learning possible. That is why the relationships being built here, in classrooms, in corridors, and on visits to primary schools down the road, matter as much as anything we teach. If your child is happy and doing well at Kaipara College, tell a friend. If something isn’t working, call us and let us know, so we can fix it. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see the latest from our school. Facebook: facebook.com/KaiparaCollegeHelensville Instagram:
