Stage 6 students have recently started the HSC course and, as a result, expectations have stepped up. In English we are focusing on the area of study, “belonging” and how it is explored in different texts, in particular the poetry of Peter Skrzynecki. The concept of belonging can be applied to many facets of life including, belonging to a team, belonging to a culture or belonging to a family. In contrast to belonging is the notion of not belonging, whether it is due to different interests or different beliefs or values.
When I initially started familiarising myself with the concept and how I was going to teach it I was concerned that students may struggle to understand what exactly it meant to belong. We studied one interpretation of belonging in class last week that suggested it was a choice: “While we try to understand belonging as an idea, it is not in itself a cognitive concept, but rather an affective one – we can only feel we belong. All objective criteria…for belonging maybe checked off but unless we feel we belong, we remain an outsider”.
I posed this idea to the students for thought. I was delighted when I received a response which went something like this: “It’s like when we were at other colleges and we didn’t really fit in, but when we came to IFS we were meant to be here, we belonged.”
As a teenager finding where you fit can be a truly challenging task and exploring the concept of belonging just reaffirms that. It is great, however, to be part of a college environment that allows students to feel like they belong. Students have found a community they belong to with peers who share their passion for football or tennis and understand their unspoken codes.
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