What is meant by wellbeing, community and belonging?

Learning is a social experience. The relationships that are created between educator and student, and between student and student, matter, and can have an important impact on a student’s sense of belonging and wellbeing whilst at university. Creating space for genuine opportunities for dialogue between peers and with educators, in formal and informal settings, can help to foster relationships that centre around an ethic of care. This type of learning is often referred to as relational pedagogy (Bovill, 2020).

Why is it important?

A sense of belonging can affect all aspects of a student’s time whilst at university, from academic achievement and sense of mental wellbeing, to whether or not the student remains at university (Strayhorn, 2018). Demonstrating to students that staff care can have a strong impact on their sense of belonging. This can take place in a formal classroom setting, such as showing you know students’ names, or informally by simply asking students how they are doing over a cup of tea.

The University’s Sense of Belonging task group has created a useful guide for Schools on ‘Fostering a Sense of Belonging at our University‘ that we encourage you to read through.

Similarly, we recommend that you take a look at the work on wellbeing that is being undertaken as part of the Curriculum Transformation Project.