Creating Place and Belonging in Schools
Why schools need to be places of welcome and belonging.
We live in a world full of boundless promise and possibilities. It's also a world which can feel hostile and uncertain. And it's a world on the move: which is why place and belonging matter.
A message from Kathryn Riley
'Belonging' is that sense of being somewhere where you can be confident that you will fit in, and feel safe in your identity. As schools are one of the few shared social institutions which can create a sense of belonging or exclusion, it's vital that they are places of welcome and belonging.
A school is just a building. What happens in any school is down to the people in and around it: the children, their families, the staff - and the leaders. How leaders think, decide, act and reflect, and draw on their knowledge to create a roadmap of possibilities is critical to the well-being of children and adults.
Begin first by looking at schools afresh - through The Prism of Place and Belonging. A prism refracts the light, or breaks it into different parts. Once you do this, you understand how school life is experienced, who feels included who feels an outsider and what can be done to change this.
Whether you are a leader, teacher, support staff member, researcher, parent, community member, governor or policy-maker - and wherever you are in the world - I hope the information presented here will help you make your contribution towards creating schools which open up pathways to possibilities for young people.
Kathryn Riley, Professor of Urban Education at IOE
Co-Founder of The Art of Possibilities
Background
The information presented here is drawn from an emerging body of research and development work about place and belonging, undertaken in countries in many parts of the world. These include Australia, Chile, Jamaica, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and South Africa. Much of this work has been undertaken in schools located in ethnically diverse and socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods.
The main contributors to this work are:
- IOE: Professor Kathryn Riley, Dr Max Coates, Dr Dina Mehmedbegovic, Sol Perez Martinez and Rhoda Furniss
- The Art of Possibilities: Professor Kathryn Riley and DancePoet TioMolina
- Schools: Corelli College, Elizabeth Garret Anderson School, Mulberry School, St Anthony's Catholic Primary School, Bromley, St Paul's Way Trust School, Upton Cross Primary School, and schools involved in the Newly Qualified Teachers' Network led by Newport School.
Resources
In these pages, you will find practical tools, videos, research findings and analysis, all designed to help you think about two important questions:
- Is 'this' school a place where children, young people, and adults feel they belong?
- If not, what are we going to do about?
Video Series I: Place and belonging in a volatile world: the art of possibilities
Five short videos each of which explores issues about belonging in our uncertain world from different perspectives: young people, student-researchers (from both primary and secondary schools), teacher-researchers, school leaders. The videos also illustrate how to use poetry and music to create a sense of place and belonging.
Video Series II: Place and belonging in schools: unlocking possibilities
Four short films which - with the help of children from St Anthony's Catholic Primary school, Bromley and school leaders - explore key concepts about belonging, agency, place and space. The videos remind us that the seeds of transformation are waiting to be harvested and that the genesis for change and renewal lies in schools.
Booklet: Place and belonging in schools: unlocking possibilities
By Kathryn Riley, Max Coates & Sol Perez Martinez (2018)
Designed by Lisa Jo Robinson
This practical and highly visual booklet focuses on how to create schools which are places of well-being, belonging and creative endeavour. Key concepts, tools and approaches are provided, and a model for change designed to generate a fresh perspective on school life. All of these are research-based and have been 'road-tested' with leaders, practitioners, community members, young people and researchers.
Publications
K. Riley. (2013). Leadership of Place: Stories from the US, UK and South Africa, London: Bloomsbury.
Findings from a cross-national study on place and belonging which explores the importance of understanding place and context, from the perspectives of young people, staff and communities. Childrens' drawings help illustrate the daily realities of life - both in school and outside.
K. Riley. (2017). Place, Belonging and School Leadership: Researching to make the difference, London: Bloomsbury.
Findings from an innovative research and development partnership between the IOE, UCL and schools. The book explores how belonging is experienced and generated in schools and highlights the benefits to all concerned when young people and teachers engage in research inquiry. The book also offers tools and approaches designed to help school leaders develop their role as place leaders and place makers.
Other publications related to place, belonging and inclusion
See the range of publications by Kathryn Riley and colleagues related to place and belonging, and inclusion.
- Riley, K. (2020). Leadership of Place: Transforming Schools into Places of Belonging. ICSEI Monograph Series, January. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement.
- Riley, K. Mendoza, M., & Galdames, S. (2020). Cross-sector & Interdisciplinary Perspectives on School Belonging & Exclusion -What we Know; What we Need to Know; And What Needs to Change. Discussion Document. London: UCL, Institute of Education.
- Riley, K. (2019). Agency and belonging: What transformative actions can schools take to help create a sense of place and belonging? Journal of Educational & Child Psychology; Vol. 36 No. 4, 91-103.
- Riley, K. (2019). The belonging Imperative. School Leadership Today, Vol 9.3, p31-36.
- Riley, K. (2019). We’re a long way from a sense of belonging. TES Scotland, 7 June, pp 20-21.
- Riley, K. (2019). Protests and possibilities: reframing the agenda for urban secondary schools. Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 56 Issue: 5, pp.455-462.
- Re-creating Schools as Places of Belonging: The Art of Possibilities. Professional Development Today (2017), 19 (2) 8-17.
- Community collaboration and partnership in volatile times, in P. Earley & T. Greany (eds) (2017), School Leadership and Education System Reform. Chapter 13, London: Bloomsbury.
- Walking the leadership tightrope: building community cohesiveness and social capital in schools in highly disadvantaged urban communities, British Educational Research Journal, 39, (2), April 2013: 266-286.
- Improving city schools: who and what makes the difference? in C. Sugrue (ed.) (2008), New Directions for Educational Change: International Perspectives. London: Routledge.
- Riley, K., Montecinos, C. & Ahumada, L. (2016). Effective Principals Serving in High Poverty Schools in Chile: Managing Competing Realities. pp 1-8, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences.
- Riley, K. & Docking J. (2004). Voices of disaffected pupils: implications for policy and practice. British Journal of Educational Studies 52, (2) 166-179. Published online: 02 July 2010.
- Riley K., Ellis, S., Weinstock, W., Tarrant, J. & Hammond, S. (2006). Re-engaging disaffected pupils in learning: insights for policy and practice. Improving Schools, 9 (1) 17-31.
- Riley, K. & Rustique-Forrester, E. (2002). Working with disaffected students: why children lose interest in School and what we can do about it. London: Chapman Sage.
Further information
Want to know more about Kathryn's research story?
Watch the video: Research on schools as places of belonging
In a global context of change and uncertainty, Kathryn Riley builds on her pioneering work on place and belonging, and on the concept of Leadership of Place, to pose fundamental challenges to the beliefs, thinking and professional practice of educators and leaders and to ask: how can we create schools that are places of belonging and possibility?
Related links
Website: The Art of Possibilities
Meet our academics: Q&A with Professor Kathryn Riley
Contact us
Professor Kathryn Riley
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society
University College London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
Email: kathryn.riley@ucl.ac.uk
News
UCL’s professional development for early career teachers renewed by DfE
The UK government’s Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed UCL IOE as a lead provider for the new Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE), commencing in September 2025.
15 Jan 2025
From the early years school to the research school
In this episode, Sally Adams tells us about her new role leading adult learning – and the ways teaching can be a great stepping stone for a host of different careers.
13 Dec 2024
What happens to the ‘could have beens’ who decided not to teach?
Mark and Elaine hear from researcher Emily Macleod, who says that if we want more people to try out teaching, we have to stop thinking of it as a vocation.
29 Nov 2024
What's on
See all department events23 Jan
25 Feb
in person
Food banks in schools and nurseries: The education sector’s responses to the cost-of-living crisis16:30 - 18:00
