Everyone is talking about ‘belonging’ but what do they really mean?

Through this lecture, Dr. Matthews evaluates the developmental trends in school belonging research conducted with racially marginalized student populations and describes three distinct trends of school belonging research: assimilationist, reformist, and sociopolitical, as well as the ideological characteristics of each trend. Further, he employs critical race and optimal distinctiveness theories as conceptual guides to assess the affordances and limits of each trend and how the research literature has evolved across these three trends. Finally, Dr. Matthews offers insights for responsibly advancing school belonging research in ways that authentically address the needs of racially marginalized student groups and honor the cultural and contextual nuance of their lived experiences.