0.8 Mirci, p., loomis, c., & Hensley, p. (september 2011). social  (Page 12/19)

In terms of self and others, participants tended to use the language of family when describing their experiences at the school not characterized by social status as a defining dimension of a sense of belonging. Peter shared: “The whole school was like a family.” Beth elaborated on the perception of using the term family to describe the sense of self and others: “We kind of clicked as a family and the teachers helped us by being understanding. They got to know us. We were more than just students to them.” Maria found that her sense of self and others generated a sense of happiness: “I liked going because we would all be together.” Jose observed that his sense of relationships with others was characterized by a generosity of spirit: “We were close. Everybody was willing to work with me. Teachers and the counselor were willing to help me through things. It was almost like a family.”

Establishing trusting relationships with adults contributed to the sense of belonging with others. This finding concurs with the work of Hensley and Burmeister (2006). The responses of the students seemed to reflect the Big Picture Learning Schools’ emphasis on having caring and supportive adults in the lives of students because they influenced a student’s sense of self and others: “Research has consistently shown the social and educational benefits of surrounding a child with caring adults who spend quality time with them” (Levin&Peters, 2002, p. 50).

Our findings were consistent with those of Poplin and Weeres (1992):

Students over and over again, raised the issue of care. What they liked best about school was when people, particularly teachers, cared about them or did special things for them. Dominating their complaints were being ignored, not being cared for and receiving negative treatments…The relationship between students and their teachers seem to dominant students’ feelings about school. (19)

Nature of the world

This category constituted a continuum regarding perceptions of the nature of the world. The continuum ranged from viewing the world as friendly to hostile. Marzano (1998) found that people possessed more flexibility in their thinking when they perceived the world as friendly. If the perceptions were that the world was hostile, there was less flexibility and more rigidity in thinking.

Participants reported perceptions of experiences that influenced their understanding of the world as hostile to friendly. In viewing the nature of the world as hostile, statements from participants regarding the negativity they experienced at the comprehensive high school where their sense of self and others relegated them to low status group membership based on strained relationships with teachers. Arturo provided additional insights regarding hostility: “There were a lot of fights and arguments between students. That made it difficult for me to focus on learning.”

Susan wrote about the hostility of “being segregated.” Maria indicated this took the form of social status:

I truly felt that I was at a disadvantage because I was Mexican in a school surrounded by White middle class students who were doing better in school and seemed to be liked by the teachers. They belonged, I didn’t.