{"id":7782,"date":"2022-08-16T16:35:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T20:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=7782"},"modified":"2025-03-28T17:15:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T21:15:28","slug":"foster-belonging","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/foster-belonging\/","title":{"rendered":"Foster Belonging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>What does it mean to belong in a classroom, in a discipline, in a university?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If this seems like a silly question, likely that&#8217;s because you&#8217;ve always felt comfortable in a college environment. When you belong somewhere you don\u2019t notice that you belong: you simply exist with little anxiety or self-consciousness and are not plagued by doubts as to whether the University is a place where you could succeed, or where you should want to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>However, many students who come to Montclair do not feel like they belong. In the Fall 2021 \u201cEducate Your Educators\u201d survey, only 28% of responding undergraduates reported that they agreed or strongly agreed that \u201cmost students feel a sense of belonging\u201d at Montclair, down from 41% in 2019. More recently, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/provost\/survey-research\/\">University&#8217;s Noel Levitz survey<\/a> from Spring 2022 showed improvement: 37% of undergraduates report that they agreed or strongly agreed that \u201cmost students feel a sense of belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>When students have a strong sense of belonging they are more successful:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students who feel connected and respected, and who have a sense of belonging are <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">more motivated, more engaged, more persistent and achieve higher academic success<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (Nat\u2019l Academies of SEM, 2017).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sense of belonging is a<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> key predictor of college students\u2019 persistence and well-being<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (Gopalan &amp; Brady, 2020; Walton &amp; Cohen 2007; 2011, Yeager et al 2016; Walton et al 2023).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sense of belonging predicts <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">satisfaction with college<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (Thomas and Galambos 2004)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students\u2019 sense of belonging can be improved through pedagogical and curricular practices (Cohen &amp; Viola 2022; Murphy et al 2020)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Students who have a sense of belonging persist at greater rates (Gopalan &amp; Brady, 2020; Hausmann et al, 2007; NASEM, 2017; Yeager et al 2016; Walter et al 2023).<\/li>\n<li>Having a sense of belonging is a predictor of motivation, engagement, and achievement (Zumbrunn et al., 2014).<\/li>\n<li>Students who have a sense of belonging have established \u201csupportive peer relationships\u201d and believe that \u201cfaculty are compassionate\u201d and that students are \u201cmore than just another face in the crowd (Hoffman et al., 2003).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bake Belonging Into Your Course Design<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/clear-course-design\/the-montclair-syllabus\/\">Montclair Syllabus<\/a> which prompts instructors to welcome students, provides extensive resources, and renames office hours, &#8220;student hours,&#8221; to make it clear that students are welcome, among other features. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/pedagogical-strategies-that-support-learning\/warming-up-your-syllabus\/\">&#8220;Warming Up&#8221; Your Syllabus<\/a> for strategies to foster belonging.<\/li>\n<li>Build a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/pedagogical-strategies-that-support-learning\/connect-with-your-students\/planning-your-first-day-of-class\/\">first day of class plan <\/a>that emphasizes connection, builds confidence, and leaves students believing that you are an invested, motivated, and caring instructor.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Develop systems for learning names; insist on learning them [name tags].<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Ensure course materials are accessible, drawing on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/universal-design-for-learning\/\">universal design for learning<\/a> principles.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Create assignments that invite students to share, showcase, and draw upon their personal experiences.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use a warm, encouraging tone in syllabus and other documents<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/pedagogical-strategies-that-support-learning\/connect-with-your-students\/student-surveys\/\"><b>student surveys<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to seek students\u2019 views on how class is going or to invite them to tell you about who they are beyond \u201cstudent in the class\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/inclusivity-and-diversity\/incorporating-varied-course-materials\/\">\u00a0curriculum that appeals to our students<\/a> \u2013 Integrate varied perspectives and materials that reflect people from all walks of life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Connect course curricula to real-world content that is relatable to our student body<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Support Belonging through Your Daily Practice<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn and use your students\u2019 names; recognize them as individuals and not bodies in seats.\n<ul>\n<li>Make it easy: Use a name tent<\/li>\n<li>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/sparq.stanford.edu\/solutions\/wise-critiques-help-students-succeed\">this study<\/a> that suggests how powerful being known by name is for students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Identify the students you know the least well and seek out a way to engage them individually, such as asking simple questions, or offering compliments on their ideas or comments.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/inclusivity-and-diversity\/cultivating-student-success\/\">Cultivate student success<\/a> so that all students feel known, seen, and valued.<\/li>\n<li>Help students feel like they can succeed and overcome <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/researchwhisperer.org\/2016\/02\/02\/imposter-syndrome\/\" target=\"_blank\">imposter syndrome<\/a>.\n<ul>\n<li>Examine how you give feedback to students: Critical feedback on assignments should emphasize:\n<ol>\n<li>reflection of a teacher\u2019s high standards<\/li>\n<li>students\u2019 potential to reach them and<\/li>\n<li>substantive feedback to improve. For example, a framing comment like the following can be adapted: \u201cI\u2019m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.\u201d (Steele, 2011; Yaeger et al., 2014).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Frame the purpose of assessments effectively: Emphasize that tests and assignments are diagnostic of students\u2019 current skill levels, which can be improved with practice, instead of a measure of permanent ability (Aronson, 2002).<\/li>\n<li>Use reflective writing to normalize struggles.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize the variety of people who have become contributors to\/members of the field.<\/li>\n<li>Move course assessments away from timed, high-stakes tests. Courses with design- or writing-based assignments, as well as low-stakes quizzes, tend to have more equitable outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Be aware of and mitigate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=7922&amp;preview=true\">cognitive bias<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Make space for students\u2019 voices and experiences.<\/li>\n<li>Encourage a <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/tll.mit.edu\/teaching-resources\/inclusive-classroom\/growth-mindset\/\" target=\"_blank\">growth mindset<\/a> and the value of effort over innate intelligence.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/why-it-matters-teaching-controversial-topics\/\">Address controversial topics <\/a>&#8212; It&#8217;s not impossible to have fruitful and educational valuable conversations about topics that matter personally, socially, politically, and otherwise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Plan an Intervention to Foster Belonging<\/h2>\n<p>Socially disadvantaged students who experience a \u201cbelonging intervention\u201d are more engaged in university activities, develop more friendships, have higher GPAs, and are more likely to have a mentor (Brady 2020, Walton et al 2007 &amp; 2011, Yeager et al 2016).<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Idea<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Recognize doubts about belonging, and cast belonging challenges as temporary &amp; mutable<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Intervention<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Students read and reflect on older students\u2019 stories of experiencing challenges to belonging in college and how their experiences improved over time. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Brady et al 2020, Walton &amp; Cohen 2011, Yeager et al 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Solicit or find authentic student voices who can speak from their experiences of first encountering non-belonging and then persisting and being helped to finding belonging and from that, a sense of belonging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Solicit:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Write to former students who you witnessed not just succeeding, but first struggling. Invite them to help you. If your students are interested in helping, ask them to record or write their short vignette. You might share these slides to help them understand your project.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Find: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/getschooled.com\/journey\/webelongincollege\/2020-webelongincollege-scholarship-winners\/\"><b>Try We Belong in College<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/collegetransitioncollaborative.org\/belonging-story\/\"><b>Assign the project to students<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. See Andrew Roland\u2019s assignment, UNM.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Write your own: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/collegetransitioncollaborative.org\/belonging-story\/\"><b>Create a Belonging Story<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next, ask students to read \/ view the student perspectives and follow the viewing with a writing activity, with short written essays (two paragraphs) such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why do you think it is common for students to feel unsure about their belonging when they first come to college?\u00a0 Consider your own experiences with transitions \u2013 to high school, to college, to a new community \u2013 to compose your response.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most college students become comfortable in their chosen major, college, and university over time. Again, based on your experience, how do college students become comfortable? How do college students develop that sense of belonging?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Read more about OFE&#8217;s take on Belonging by viewing the slides of our <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1lygIiD92uF2axIfUw33N4nFXxEnGA_VbIzVUJUcckHs\/edit#slide=id.g1ccaa5869db_0_0\">Belonging Intervention<\/a>\u00a0workshop, January 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"prpl-drawer\"><div class=\"prpl-drawer-header\">Write Strong Student Letters of Recommendation<\/div><div class=\"prpl-drawer-content\">\n<p>Part of cultivating scholars is encouraging and supporting students through letters of recommendation. Much research has shown that letters of recommendation exhibit weaknesses that can undermine intentions. Here are some tips to help you avoid common pitfalls.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stick to professional matters: leave out personal, private information about the student.<\/li>\n<li>Be specific. Rather than labeling them \u201csuccessful\u201d or \u201caccomplished\u201d in a broad, generic way, provide concrete examples.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t call attention to the subject\u2019s identity &#8212; focus on the record..<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t raise doubt through negative phrases (\u201cAlthough\u201d or hedges (\u201cappears,\u201d \u201cseems\u201d).<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t damn with faint praise.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t be too brief: shorter letters suggest a lesser degree of assurance about your student&#8217;s abilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you feel uncomfortable writing the letter, it is better to say no to the request than to write a tepid letter of recommendation.<\/p>\n<p>When writing letters of recommendation, consider some of the strategies proposed by <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/advice\/2022\/06\/14\/writers-and-students-should-collaborate-recommendation-letters-opinion\" target=\"_blank\">Rebecca E. Burnett, Rebekah Fitzsimmons, Courtney A. Hoffman and Patricia R. Taylor<\/a> (2022, June). They argue for a collaborative approach in which applicants request letters, writers collect information and then draft the letter; writer and applicant then collaborate and review the letter. .<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"prpl-drawer\"><div class=\"prpl-drawer-header\">Resources and References<\/div><div class=\"prpl-drawer-content\">\n<h3>Belonging<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csuchico.edu\/fye\/student-research\/belonging.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Belonging at Cal State Chico<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pittwire.pitt.edu\/news\/student-belonging-exercise-erases-achievement-gaps-biology-physics-courses\" target=\"_blank\">Belonging exercises change outcomes at UPitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/crlt.umich.edu\/gsis\/p3_1\" target=\"_blank\">Creating Inclusive College Classrooms<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/li>\n<li>MIT <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/tll.mit.edu\/teaching-resources\/inclusive-classroom\/academic-belonging\/\" target=\"_blank\">Academic Belonging<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brown.edu\/sheridan\/teaching-learning-resources\/inclusive-teaching\/stereotype-threat\" target=\"_blank\">Strategies and Resources about Stereotype Threat<\/a>, Brown University<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hoffman, M., et al. (2002). &#8220;Investigating \u201cSense of Belonging\u201d in First-Year College Students.&#8221; <em>Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory &amp; Practice<\/em> 4(3): 227-256.<\/p>\n<h3>Recommendation Letters:<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/csw.arizona.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/avoiding_gender_bias_in_letter_of_reference_writing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Avoiding bias in reference writing<\/a>, University of Arizona, Commission on the Status of Women<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montana.edu\/lachowieclab\/dei\/ref_letter_racial_bias.html\" target=\"_blank\">Avoiding bias in letter of reference writing<\/a>, Montana State University<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/advance.cc.lehigh.edu\/content\/gender-bias-calculator-letters-recommendation\" target=\"_blank\">Bias Calculator: Letters of Recommendation<\/a>, collection by Lehigh University<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><p><em>Last Modified: Friday, March 28, 2025 5:15 pm<\/em><\/p> EJI<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>For more information or help, please\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:faculty@montclair.edu\">email<\/a>\u00a0the Office for Faculty Excellence or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/montclair-faculty-excellence.libcal.com\/appointments\/\">make an appointment<\/a>\u00a0with a consultant.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/195\/2022\/08\/CC.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nTeaching Resources by\u00a0<a rel=\"cc:attributionURL\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/\">精品成人福利在线 University Office for Faculty Excellence<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under a\u00a0<a rel=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Third-party content is not covered under the Creative Commons license and may be subject to additional intellectual property notices, information, or restrictions. You are solely responsible for obtaining permission to use third party content or determining whether your use is fair use and for responding to any claims that may arise.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons CC BY-NC-4.0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does it mean to belong in a classroom, in a discipline, in a university? If this seems like a silly question, likely that&#8217;s because you&#8217;ve always felt comfortable in a college environment. When you belong somewhere you don\u2019t notice that you belong: you simply exist with little anxiety or self-consciousness and are not plagued [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":7885,"parent":0,"menu_order":95,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7782","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7782"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13596,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7782\/revisions\/13596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}