Belonging & PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
Community college students may be especially vulnerable to feeling less prepared, less competent, or less connected to their educational community. The alienating environment of community colleges, the lecture mode of teaching, lack of development of student to student relationships and the non-existent student dormitory life, all contribute to these feelings. The most effective educational and pre-professional training for students must meet several key needs. In order to sustain motivation, students need a sense of social belonging, a degree of autonomy, and to feel competent while still being challenged.
Of these needs social belonging is the strongest predictor of student persistence and completion. If instructors can create an environment that meets these needs, students will be better able to complete work that is not inherently fun or satisfying. These needs can have paradoxical effects when underprepared students are met with punitive discipline or distrust on the part of teachers. When students misbehave, the response is typically more control and authority, which diminishes their feeling of autonomy. When students fall behind academically, they lose the feeling of competence that sustains their motivation in the face of challenge. And if their relationships with teachers are damaged or they lack opportunities to connect with peers, they have a diminished sense of relatedness and belonging. Luckily, teachers can create environments conducive to connection and engagement by moving beyond the cognitive and thinking holistically about their students.
Belonging, Autonomy, and Growth
Community college students may experience stigma that comes with the ‘community college’ label, and may be especially vulnerable to feeling less prepared, less competent, or less connected to their educational community. The most effective educational and pre-professional training for students must meet several key needs (Allen et al. 2011; Deci & Ryan 2008, 2012; Ryan & Deci 2000; Tough 2016). In order to sustain motivation, students need a sense of social belonging, a degree of autonomy, and to feel competent while still being challenged. Social belonging is the strongest predictor of student persistence and completion (Productive Persistence interviews). If instructors can create an environment that meets these needs, students will be better able to complete work that is not inherently fun or satisfying.
These needs can have paradoxical effects when underprepared students are met with punitive discipline or distrust on the part of teachers. When students misbehave, the response is typically more control and authority, which diminishes their feeling of autonomy. When students fall behind academically, they lose the feeling of competence that sustains their motivation in the face of challenge. And if their relationships with teachers are damaged or they lack opportunities to connect with peers, they have a diminished sense of relatedness and belonging.
Luckily, teachers can create environments conducive to connection and engagement by moving beyond the cognitive and thinking holistically about their students. One way to do this is by using project-based learning, which encourages students to connect with and support their peers and empowers them to address complicated interpersonal dynamics in addition to applying course content in a relevant context. Project-based learning can also engage students by providing opportunities to connect their learning to their lived experiences, communities, interests, and career plans.