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Defining sense of community as a feeling of belongingness within a group, this article reviews research about students' sense of acceptance within the school community to address three questions: Is this experience of belongingness important in an educational setting? Do students currently experience school as a community? And how do schools influence students' sense of community? Conceptually, the review reflects a social cognitive perspective on motivation. This theoretical framework maintains that individuals have psychological needs, that satisfaction of these needs affects perception and behavior, and that characteristics of the social context influence how well these needs are met. The concern here is how schools, as social organizations, address what is defined as a basic psychological need, the need to experience belongingness. The findings suggest that students' experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students' experience of membership in a supportive community.
Hargreaves, Earl, and Ryan (1996) echo the voice of many researchers and educators who believe that "one of the most fundamental reforms needed in secondary or high school education is to make schools into better communities of caring and support for young people" (p. 77). The term "community" is used in different ways in the literature, but common to many of these definitions is the concept of belongingness (Solomon, Watson, Battistich, Schaps, & Delucchi, 1996). While there are differences in opinion on specific characteristics of organizations that constitute communities, as Furman (1998) explains, community is not present until members experience feelings of belonging, trust in others, and safety.
Reflecting that perspective and the definition guiding this paper is that of McMillan and Chavis (1986). The term "community", they maintain, has two uses. The first refers to a territorial or geographic unit; the second is relational and describes the quality or character of human relationships. In the present discussion, the primary concern is the relational nature of community within organizational boundaries, and specifically those of the school. Operationally, McMillan and Chavis propose that community consists of four elements: membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and a shared emotional connection. A community exists when its members experience a sense of belonging or personal relatedness. In a community, the members feel...