School bonding, attachment, and engagement through remote learning: Fostering school connectedness

Over 2020 and 2021 we have seen significant disruption to schooling across the world as COVID-19 forces school closures. Education sectors migrated to distance learning arrangements and teachers and students primarily communicated through digital means. Under challenging conditions, school leaders and teachers made rapid changes to pedagogy and curriculum to accommodate their students’ diverse range of learning needs. We present an interview drawn from a qualitative study undertaken in Australia to illustrate (from a teacher’s perspective) how a school response to COVID-19 integrates elements of school connectedness during the shift to distance learning. School connectedness is an umbrella term that has been theorised in many different ways. In this article, we illustrate school bonding, attachment, and engagement as three interrelated aspects of school connectedness that came to the fore during lockdown measures associated with COVID-19. Leaders, teachers, students, and school communities benefit from school connectedness. When adversity is experienced, school connectedness can be seen in the relationships between teachers, the commitment to students, and the all-important pastoral support from school leaders. Strong and supportive relationships develop through practices that support school bonding, school attachment, and school engagement.

Taking Care of Friends: The Implementation Evaluation of a Peer-Focused School Program Using First Aid to Reduce Adolescent Risk-Taking and Injury

Injury is a leading cause of adolescent deaths, with risk-taking associated with a sizeable proportion of injuries and many of those risks undertaken in the presence of peers or with peers’ knowledge. Novel ways to promote safety are required and using the peer-relationship may be an important mechanism for prevention. This study reports on the implementation evaluation of the Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) program. SPIY is a high-school program designed to reduce injury by encouraging peers to look out for one another and prevent risk-taking, complemented by developing peer helping and first aid skills as well as school connectedness. 152 students and 12 teachers who delivered SPIY participated in separate 30 min focus groups and reported on students’ understanding of peer protective behaviour and the program implementation (adherence, dose, quality of program delivery, and participant responsiveness). Students reported on many approaches to protecting friends and both students and teachers reported they found the program interesting, interactive, and able to be delivered. Peer protection messages were relevant and acceptable to teachers and students in a risk-taking harm reduction program to reduce adolescent injury.

Under the skin of truancy in Aotearoa (New Zealand): A grounded theory study of young people’s perspectives

<p>Truancy is a longstanding, unresolved educational issue in countries where there are compulsory attendance policies. Taking time out from class without permission is illegal and negatively influences future functioning for students who truant in regards to employment, family and community. Truancy represents a long-term cost to society in expenditure on health, well-being and incarceration. Previous research has focused on key demographic variables related to truancy, causal factors, and a variety of viewpoints. However, there has been a paucity of evidence about truancy from student perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this research was twofold; (1) to investigate how secondary school students who truant constructed meaning about their experiences, and (2) to develop a substantive theory that identified how participants constructed the processes involved in truanting. This thesis used a grounded theory approach, concurrently gathering and analysing data generated through interviews with 13 young people from three schools and an activity centre. Students in the study referred to truanting as wagging. In respect of this, the study presents a process theory of wagging which identifies four stages: Wagging-in-class; leaving; awakening, and reincluding. The study contributes to truancy scholarship in several ways, which include the experiences and challenges occurring in class and in their personal lives that contribute to youth truanting; how youth reposition themselves when they truant; the nature of their interactions and the group they truant with; what causes them to realise there is no future value in truanting; the conditions that support them to reintegrate in class after truanting; and why they are able to return and attend school regularly after truanting. Further findings indicate that teacher intentional behaviours and student willingness to change are necessary to support the further development of inclusive practices in schools required to address truancy. The recommendations made for school leaders, teachers, counsellors, teacher educators and policy makers include four suggestions: (1) building teacher-student rapport, links with whānau, and school connectedness; (2) more proactive, sustained and consistent monitoring of student attendance; (3) reviewing school systems to foster inclusiveness and student attendance; and (4) providing a strong focus on inclusiveness within teacher education and professional development programmes. Future research and development opportunities are also identified, for example, the design of an ethnodrama to disseminate the results of this study and to heighten awareness of the dangers of wagging to students and the community. The intention is also to research the audience reactions and responses to the ethnodrama. This thesis also draws attention to the need for further studies to replicate the design features of the present study in other contexts so as to confirm, modify, extend or challenge the process theory of wagging that has emerged from this research.</p>

Under the skin of truancy in Aotearoa (New Zealand): A grounded theory study of young people’s perspectives

<p>Truancy is a longstanding, unresolved educational issue in countries where there are compulsory attendance policies. Taking time out from class without permission is illegal and negatively influences future functioning for students who truant in regards to employment, family and community. Truancy represents a long-term cost to society in expenditure on health, well-being and incarceration. Previous research has focused on key demographic variables related to truancy, causal factors, and a variety of viewpoints. However, there has been a paucity of evidence about truancy from student perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this research was twofold; (1) to investigate how secondary school students who truant constructed meaning about their experiences, and (2) to develop a substantive theory that identified how participants constructed the processes involved in truanting. This thesis used a grounded theory approach, concurrently gathering and analysing data generated through interviews with 13 young people from three schools and an activity centre. Students in the study referred to truanting as wagging. In respect of this, the study presents a process theory of wagging which identifies four stages: Wagging-in-class; leaving; awakening, and reincluding. The study contributes to truancy scholarship in several ways, which include the experiences and challenges occurring in class and in their personal lives that contribute to youth truanting; how youth reposition themselves when they truant; the nature of their interactions and the group they truant with; what causes them to realise there is no future value in truanting; the conditions that support them to reintegrate in class after truanting; and why they are able to return and attend school regularly after truanting. Further findings indicate that teacher intentional behaviours and student willingness to change are necessary to support the further development of inclusive practices in schools required to address truancy. The recommendations made for school leaders, teachers, counsellors, teacher educators and policy makers include four suggestions: (1) building teacher-student rapport, links with whānau, and school connectedness; (2) more proactive, sustained and consistent monitoring of student attendance; (3) reviewing school systems to foster inclusiveness and student attendance; and (4) providing a strong focus on inclusiveness within teacher education and professional development programmes. Future research and development opportunities are also identified, for example, the design of an ethnodrama to disseminate the results of this study and to heighten awareness of the dangers of wagging to students and the community. The intention is also to research the audience reactions and responses to the ethnodrama. This thesis also draws attention to the need for further studies to replicate the design features of the present study in other contexts so as to confirm, modify, extend or challenge the process theory of wagging that has emerged from this research.</p>

Connectedness to Family, School, and Neighborhood and Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms

In the U.S., there is a strong national interest in social connectedness as a key determinant in promoting positive well-being in adolescents through building strong bonds and creating protective relationships that support adolescent mental health. To this end, this study examined whether, and to what extent, specific types of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood were associated with internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) among a diverse sample of adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds. The sample (n = 2590) was majority male (51%), with an average age of 15.6 years, and identified as Black (49%) and Hispanic/Latino (26%). The results revealed that adolescents who reported strong connections to their parent (β = −0.128, p < 0.001), school (β = −0.222, p < 0.001), and neighborhood (β = −0.116, p = 0.003) were more likely to report lower levels of depressive symptomology, with school connectedness exerting a greater influence. In addition, parent connectedness (β = −0.157, p < 0.001) and school connectedness (β = −0.166, p < 0.001) were significantly related to teen anxiety; however, neighborhood connectedness was not (β = −0.123, p = 0.087). The findings have important implications, which are discussed.

The Role of School Connectedness in Supporting the Health and Well-Being of Youth: Recommendations for School Nurses

The importance of students feeling connected in school cannot be overstated, as this perception is crucial to support their health and well-being. A lack of school connectedness can lead to adverse physical and mental health outcomes, including bully victimization. Numerous factors, including individual, social, and environmental, influence students’ perceived sense of school connectedness. School nurses are well positioned to establish and maintain school connectedness due to their knowledge, accessibility to students, and familiarity with the school environment. This article details the importance of school connectedness and describes the associations between school connectedness, bullying, and mental health. In addition, we offer recommendations geared toward school nurses regarding strengthening school connectedness and promoting a culture of care and inclusivity within school environments, especially salient in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Collective Influence of Family Connectedness, School Connectedness and Coping during Adolescence on Psychological Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood

<p>Research shows that adolescent connections to the family and school environments both diminish across time and are predictive of psychological adjustment. Coping strategies displayed during adolescence are also thought to play a central role in the development of psychological adjustment outcomes. The present longitudinal study investigated trajectories of family and school connectedness during adolescence, the relationship of these trajectories to adjustment outcomes in emerging adulthood, and whether and how coping strategies might explain the relationships between family and school connectedness during adolescence and psychological adjustment in emerging adulthood. A sample of 946 adolescents were surveyed four times across an eight year period; three time points were during their secondary school years (2006, 2007, and 2008) and the final survey point was five years later (2013). Growth curve models were constructed to examine changes in family and school connectedness from Time 1 to Time 3, and to determine whether these changes predicted Time 4 adjustment outcomes. Mediation path models were also employed to determine whether and how Time 3 maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies functioned as mediators between Time 1 family and school connectedness and Time 4 psychological adjustment outcomes. Results demonstrated that those individuals who were well-connected to their family and school during adolescence were psychologically better adjusted in emerging adulthood. They also showed that levels of both family and school connectedness declined across adolescence for females, but not for males, and that declines in school connectedness were predictive of better psychological adjustment outcomes. Finally, greater family and school connectedness displayed during adolescence predicted reductions in the use of maladaptive coping and increases in the use of adaptive coping, which in turn, predicted increases in psychological adjustment in emerging adulthood. The findings are discussed in terms of their contributions to the literature, their implications for the treatment of adolescent mental health difficulties, and suggestions for future research are made.</p>

The Collective Influence of Family Connectedness, School Connectedness and Coping during Adolescence on Psychological Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood

<p>Research shows that adolescent connections to the family and school environments both diminish across time and are predictive of psychological adjustment. Coping strategies displayed during adolescence are also thought to play a central role in the development of psychological adjustment outcomes. The present longitudinal study investigated trajectories of family and school connectedness during adolescence, the relationship of these trajectories to adjustment outcomes in emerging adulthood, and whether and how coping strategies might explain the relationships between family and school connectedness during adolescence and psychological adjustment in emerging adulthood. A sample of 946 adolescents were surveyed four times across an eight year period; three time points were during their secondary school years (2006, 2007, and 2008) and the final survey point was five years later (2013). Growth curve models were constructed to examine changes in family and school connectedness from Time 1 to Time 3, and to determine whether these changes predicted Time 4 adjustment outcomes. Mediation path models were also employed to determine whether and how Time 3 maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies functioned as mediators between Time 1 family and school connectedness and Time 4 psychological adjustment outcomes. Results demonstrated that those individuals who were well-connected to their family and school during adolescence were psychologically better adjusted in emerging adulthood. They also showed that levels of both family and school connectedness declined across adolescence for females, but not for males, and that declines in school connectedness were predictive of better psychological adjustment outcomes. Finally, greater family and school connectedness displayed during adolescence predicted reductions in the use of maladaptive coping and increases in the use of adaptive coping, which in turn, predicted increases in psychological adjustment in emerging adulthood. The findings are discussed in terms of their contributions to the literature, their implications for the treatment of adolescent mental health difficulties, and suggestions for future research are made.</p>

Students’ Well-Being: The Mediating Roles of Grit and School Connectedness

A remarkable point in previous decades in every aspect of life is well-being which is also effective in academic settings, and it is consistent with positive psychology, in which one can recognize how to make everything pleasing. Moreover, grit is another noteworthy point in the process of learning, which is at the center of researchers’ attention in last years as a result of its long-term eminence. In addition, school connectedness is another important factor that was found to be positively related to students’ well-being. Therefore, the current review endeavors to emphasize the mediating role of these two constructs, grit and school connectedness on students’ well-being. Successively, some implications are proposed for educators, learners, teacher educators, and materials developers.

School connectedness as a protective factor against childhood exposure to violence and social deprivation: A longitudinal study of adaptive and maladaptive outcomes

School connectedness, a construct indexing supportive school relationships, has been posited to promote resilience to environmental adversity. Consistent with prominent calls in the field, we examined the protective nature of school connectedness against two dimensions of early adversity that index multiple levels of environmental exposure (violence exposure, social deprivation) when predicting both positive and negative outcomes in longitudinal data from 3,246 youth in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (48% female, 49% African American). Child and adolescent school connectedness were promotive, even when accounting for the detrimental effects of early adversity. Additionally, childhood school connectedness had a protective but reactive association with social deprivation, but not violence exposure, when predicting externalizing symptoms and positive function. Specifically, school connectedness was protective against the negative effects of social deprivation, but the effect diminished as social deprivation became more extreme. These results suggest that social relationships at school may compensate for low levels of social support in the home and neighborhood. Our results highlight the important role that the school environment can play for youth who have been exposed to adversity in other areas of their lives and suggest specific groups that may especially benefit from interventions that boost school connectedness.