Building Student Belonging in Higher Education: Perspectives on Driving and Developing Change(Great Debates in Higher Education)

Drawing on lessons learned regarding student experiences during Covid-19, there has been a wider call within Higher Education to be proactive about initiating developments that foster connections, build a learning community where students feel valued, and their voice heard. This collection of experiences from senior leaders and academics provides real world recommendations and toolkits to operationalise such belonging initiatives. These reflections tackle some of the challenges and tensions that may arise, from both a strategic and localised lens, such as the use of physical and digital space, how educators need to consider the diversity of learners, and initiatives on widening participation, access and participation and internationalisation. Relevant and timely across all disciplines in Higher Education, Building Student Belonging in Higher Education will be of interest to academics and researchers seeking practical guidance and examples to inform their own practices, to students interested in understanding the concept of belonging and its implications for their educational experiences, to leaders and practitioners looking for effective strategies and tools to implement in their institutions and to stakeholders such as student unions and professional services involved in student support and wellbeing.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction; Kate Strudwick and Kirsty A. Miller Chapter 2. Building a Sense of Belonging in He: Why Leadership Matters; Liz Mossop Chapter 3. Alternative Teaching Delivery Models: A Case of Student Belonging in ‘Block’; Jo Divers Chapter 4. Belonging: The Impact of Assessment and Grading; Kirsty A. Miller and Hannah L Merdian Chapter 5. Student Engagement and Sense of Belonging: Are We Ready for a New Approach?; Caroline Jones and Leonie Sweeney Chapter 6. Using Pedagogical Choices to Foster Student Engagement and Belonging; Juliette Wilson-Thomas Chapter 7. Students with a Criminal Past: Supporting Belonging and Fostering Inclusivity; Chloe Wilson Chapter 8. Building Connections: Fostering Belonging Among International Students; Claire Randerson and Kate Strudwick Chapter 9. Enhancing Belonging and Engagement Through Effective Student Support; Jessica Hodgson Chapter 10. A PLACCE for Belonging: The Power of Methodology to Illuminate Student Voice; Rebecca Westrup, Becky Price, Callum Perry, Elizabeth Scholefield, and Gray Prothero- Gibbs Chapter 11. Developing Social Worker Student Belonging, Engagement and Confidence through Peer-Mentoring: A Case Study Exploration; Cally Bleasby, Leigh-Anne Coffey, Hayley Sweeney, and Jessica Thompson Chapter 12. Belonging to Your Graduate Career: A Critical Exploration of Student Engagement with Employability; Saffron Passam and Sarah Riley Conclusion; Kate Strudwick and Kirsty A. Miller

About the Author :
Kate Strudwick is Professor of Student Engagement and Dean of Teaching and Learning at the University of Lincoln. Kirsty A. Miller is Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln. 

Review :
Given the explosion of interest in student belonging across the sector, there couldn’t be a better time for an edited collection like this to help university leaders make sense of how to embed belonging within their institutional strategies. [Insert book title] achieves a thoughtful balance between the theoretical and practical; allowing readers to quickly get to terms with the messy concepts surrounding belonging in higher education, and then knowing what they can meaningfully do about it. Chapters are filled with tangible recommendations for practice, whilst also not shying away from discussion on the underlying challenges and lessons learned. It’s also wonderful to see how multiple chapters in the book are drawing from collaborative sector conversations about belonging. For example, Chapter 3 from Jo Divers talks about how they learned about the listening rooms methodology from the Advance HE Building Belonging programme, which provided them with an innovative qualitative approach to assess students’ experiences of block teaching. The book from introduction to conclusion neatly captures the challenges that we’re all facing together as a higher education sector, and shows how collaborative work is helping us move forward. Dr David Gilani, Head of Student Engagement and Advocacy, Middlesex University This book draws together evidence and best practice from across the Higher Education sector, on how to positively influence a student’s sense of belonging. This book comes at a time of significant change and turmoil for the Higher Education sector and being able to draw on collective expertise on supporting student belonging, will be essential to successful student retention campaigns. With chapter contributions from many leading academics, this book discusses a variety of strategies that can be used to support specific groups of students, many of whom are underrepresented within High Education This book will be valuable reading for anyone looking to develop stronger belonging interventions for their students. Dr Kelly Edmunds, University of East Anglia