Seen, Valued… and Able: Designing Classrooms for Social and Academic Belonging

Belonging isn’t separate from academic teaching. Strategies that build knowledge—when done correctly—also build belonging.

A heartfelt card from reception (kindergarten) child to a headteacher, which says: “I love it how you always pay attention to me when I am talking.”

I know the headteacher who received this on the last day of term. She kneels to students’ height, meets their eyes and listens without rushing. It’s powerful when that’s modelled from the top. Behind the scenes, great leaders, like this one, also put systems in place so belonging is as much social as it is academic. Yes, we greet students at the door AND we also design routines, teaching strategies and feedback structures that help every students feel seen, valued and able to learn.

Belonging has two strands

In school, when we talk about ‘belonging’, we often focus on the social—names, greetings, being known. That matters. But students also need academic belonging: the steady sense that their thinking belongs here, that they can see what ‘good’ looks like, and that there’s a fair and achievable route to get there. The strands work best together: warmth without stretch becomes ‘nice but low challenge’; stretch without safety shuts down risk-taking.”

• Social belonging: feeling accepted, respected, included, and emotionally safe with peers and adults.
• Academic belonging: feeling like a valued, accepted and legitimate member of the subject community—“people like me do this work here”—with clear expectations and support to succeed.

Students’ experiences of race, language, gender or identity can shape whether they feel safe and legitimate in the classroom community, socially, emotionally and academicially. As Glenn Whitman from the Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning writes, “Belonging is not a monolithic thing you either have or don’t have … each student will feel a sense of belonging in some spaces but not others.”

Barriers to belonging (what we saw)

This year, when the teachers and I brainstormed barriers to belonging, we could see both social and academic situations when students lack that sense of belonging. 

• Social (& emotional) barriers. Mispronounced or shortened names; not knowing who to sit with at lunch; wondering “Does my teacher like me?”; cliques and subtle hierarchies; loneliness; curriculum or displays that don’t reflect students’ identities; inconsistent behaviour norms — “I don’t know how to act here”; lack of trust that it’s safe to be yourself.
• Academic barriers. Unclear success criteria; errors made public with no way to repair; low-challenge tasks that signal low expectations; speed mistaken for worth while the class moves on; English as an additional language without scaffolds; risky participation structures (like round-robin reading or hands-up dominance); tracking/setting that labels students.
• When they overlap. Participation feels risky or pointless; attention shifts to self-protection and working memory overloads with worry. The result is less learning.

What students say works

When teenagers describe classes where they belong, two themes surface. They feel they belong when (1) teachers intentionally build trust and peer relationships, for example, using seating to encourage peer interaction rather than as punishment—and when (2) teachers use supportive structures: rehearsal before sharing (turn-and-talk), specific and actionable feedback, clear scaffolding of complex concepts, and treating wrong answers as opportunities for growth rather than labels of who is “smart” or “dumb.” (Keyes, 2019). Together, these strategies draw in students who might otherwise hold back—socially, emotionally, and academically.

Classroom strategies — a dual purpose

Have a look at these common high-impact strategies for budding knowledge and see how—when done correctly—they also create a sense of academic belonging:

Make them routine

Belonging grows when school feels reliable: steady relationships, clear expectations, visible support, fair access. That happens when our best strategies run as predictable routines. Predictability lowers anxiety, frees working memory and signals a way in… every lesson.

Let’s take a popular strategy like the Do Now — a 2–3 minute starter students begin immediately on entry. Four quick steps:

1. On screen before entry: three retrieval questions (last lesson / last week / last month).→ students walk in knowing what’s expected. The clarity signals: “There’s a place for me here.”
2. Students get straight to work: 2 minutes of quiet thinking and recording answers.→ Everyone has something they can attempt. Early wins show: “I can do this.”
3. Teacher scan: circulates, glances at responses, offers a quick prompt or encouragement, and notes who might need support.→ The teacher is paying attention; my thinking matters.
4. Whole-class spotlight: share one item together; mistakes are treated as part of the process.→ Errors aren’t labels; they’re part of learning. Students feel safe to take risks.

Same time, same steps, every day: the routine creates early wins and builds academic belonging.

Leaders set the tone 

When a school leader models real attention—and builds systems so every adult does the same—students sense they matter. In the lesson, they run a simple test: Can I see what “good” looks like? Do I have a fair shot at producing it here? Is someone paying attention to my thinking? Good design lets them answer yes, yes, and yes.

So leaders, If belonging is an initiative in your school, make sure the strategies you model in professional development build belonging socially and academically. It’s not either/or — both matter.

Further Reading

• Keyes, T. S. (2019). Factors that promote classroom belonging and engagement among high school students. School Community Journal, 29(1), 171–200. (Student interviews highlighting the importance of trust, supportive participation, and error-as-learning.) Link
• Lawrie, S. I., Carter, D., et al. (2025). A tale of two belongings: Social and academic belonging differentially shape academic and psychological outcomes among university students. Frontiers in Psychology. Link
• Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82–96. Link
• Whitman, G. (2024). Setting the Conditions for Learning: Why Belonging and Great Teaching Always Matter. Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning. Link