Antecedents and Consequences of School Belonging: Empirical Evidence and Implications for Practices

Abstract

There are number of theoretical orientations, which may account and explain students' learning and performance outcomes in various domains of functioning. Triarchic relations between three major theoretical orientations were proposed and explored in this study. In their sequencing of predictive effects, these included: personal self-efficacy, school belonging, and academic disengagement. The proposition, in this case, stipulated both personal self-efficacy and academic disengagement as antecedent and consequence of belonging, respectively. These three variables are also conceptualized, centrally, between prior learning experience and future performance in mathematics. Two hundred and ninety 12th grade students (152 boys and 138 girls) participated in this study. Self-rating responses of Likert-scale inventories (e.g., MSLQ) were analysed using structural equation modelling procedures. Structural analyses yielded some significant evidence, notably the impact of both personal self-efficacy beliefs and a sense of belonging on academic performance in mathematics. A positive sense of belonging to school also relates inversely to academic disengagement. Finally, consistent with Bandura's (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory, personal self-efficacy is central to the relation between enactive learning experience and academic performance.