Core elements of wellbeing, community and belonging

What is meant by wellbeing, community and belonging, and why is it important?

What is meant by wellbeing, community and belonging?

Learning is a social experience. The relationships that are created between educator and student, and between student and student, matter, and can have an important impact on a student’s sense of belonging and wellbeing whilst at university. Creating space for genuine opportunities for dialogue between peers and with educators, in formal and informal settings, can help to foster relationships that centre around an ethic of care. This type of learning is often referred to as relational pedagogy (Bovill, 2020).

Why is it important?

A sense of belonging can affect all aspects of a student’s time whilst at university, from academic achievement and sense of mental wellbeing, to whether or not the student remains at university (Strayhorn, 2018). Demonstrating to students that staff care can have a strong impact on their sense of belonging. This can take place in a formal classroom setting, such as showing you know students’ names, or informally by simply asking students how they are doing over a cup of tea. There is further support offered by the University’s Student Wellbeing Service, which provides a range of health and wellbeing services to all University students.

The University’s Sense of Belonging task group has created a useful guide for Schools on ‘Fostering a Sense of Belonging at our University - PDF‘ that we encourage you to read through.

Similarly, we recommend that you take a look at the work on wellbeing in the University of Edinburgh curriculum that is being undertaken as part of the Curriculum Transformation Project.

Belonging at the university; belonging in the "classroom"; belonging in our social neworks; belonging within our places
Belonging framework - adapted from the University of Edinburgh's 'Fostering a Sense of Belonging at our University' guide

Text from the above diagram - University of Edinburgh Belonging Framework 

  1. Belonging at the university
  2. Belonging in the "classroom"
  3. Belonging in our social networks
  4. Belonging within our places

Next steps

Learn more about embedding wellbeing, community and belonging in your practice

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