Coming Together: A Comprehensive Overview of the Transdisciplinary Perspectives of School Belonging

Abstract

Interdisciplinary collaboration is necessary for the progression and solution of many social problems we face in society. Many research areas in academia are criticised for being siloed, but this is not a criticism that can be easily levelled at school belonging. There are many fields that provide input into school belonging. We see input from sociology, social psychology, economics, design, urban design and architecture, neuroscience, educational/school psychology, clinical psychology, inclusive education, behaviourism, and creative arts education – with each field offering its own set of unique insights which contribute to a nascent collective understanding of what school belonging is, what it should be, and how we can improve the experience of school belonging for students. To date, there is no published work that has encapsulated and integrated the salient work from different disciplines in the one body of work. This chapter aims to innovatively draw together perspectives of school belonging from a range of fields with the aim of exploring our commonalities, our differences and how we can work together to create stronger transdisciplinary growth and understanding in the field of school belonging.