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In a society that is becoming more individualised, the role of secondary schools as communities has become increasingly more important. Beyond academic performance, secondary schools are places where young people develop their identity, learn to collaborate, and form the social connections that help them thrive. A precondition for this social embeddedness is that the social environment sufficiently lends itself to supporting such development, which includes the involvement and cohesion of pedagogic actors such as teachers, school leaders, parents, and community actors. Communities in secondary schools are researched by examining the variation of shared practices, the diversity of mutual goals, and the kinds of common resources with which pedagogic actors and teenagers interact. Previous findings warn of the erosion of the social fabric. Its disappearance diminishes protective factors for growing up healthy, including the capacity of communities to enhance student well-being, academic success, and social cohesion—especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

By viewing schools as social hubs within broader social networks, this qualitative research project explores how community formation takes place in secondary schools and how students and different pedagogic actors experience it. The project focuses on the everyday collaboration and coordination between students and the adults around them—teachers, school leaders, parents, and community actors.

At the heart of this project is a simple but important question:
How do schools form communities, and what do these communities look like from the perspectives of both students and pedagogic actors?

Collaboration

This research is conducted in collaboration with secondary schools. By shedding light on the process of community formation, it offers insights into new ways that different groups of pedagogic actors can use to strengthen the social fabric they are part of and better support every student—not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well.

Funding

This project is funded via the FBSS Starters Grant received by Dr. Semiha Bekir and Dr. Pomme van de Weerd, with Prof. Maria de Haan as a promotor.

For more informatie please contact Jiao Harmsen.