Collection

Practical Approaches to Support Student Belonging in the Classroom

Research shows that students who feel they belong in a course or discipline are more likely to persist and can promote learning. This collection provides a set of practical resources for fostering a sense of belonging in your classroom.

Learners and Learning

Updated: January 2025

Book

Understanding Belonging and What It Looks Like in the Classroom

In The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching, Chapter 5 provides the evidence-base and concrete examples for designing a course to support students' belonging.

Isis Artze-Vega, Flower Darby, Bryan Dewsbury, and Mays Imad

Website

Creating a Belonging Story

This resource defines belonging (and belonging uncertainty) and provides a step-by-step guide for how to create and share stories of overcoming belonging uncertainty that can help your students feel like they belong in your course.

Equity Accelerator

Website

Encouraging Connections in the Classroom

This resource provides concrete ways to help students get to know each other and you as an instructor over the course of the semester.

Equity Accelerator

Audio

A Story About Belonging: Faculty and Student Perspectives

This podcast episode shares how an instructor created a classroom environment that helped students feel they belonged and includes practical suggestions for instructors in doing this in their own course.

Teaching in Higher Ed

Audio

From Weeding Out to Belonging

This podcast episode explores how two instructors and an instructional designer transformed a "weed-out" course. It offers actionable strategies to foster belonging, motivate students, and balance rigor with support, making it a valuable listen for anyone seeking to improve equity and engagement in their teaching.