Dimensions of Belonging and “Othering” in Middle School: Voices of Immigrant and Island-Born Puerto Rican Adolescents

Abstract

Sense of school belonging has been shown to contribute to a range of academic and psychosocial outcomes, especially among adolescents, and may have particular salience for immigrant students of color, due to their ethnic-racial positionality and frequent marginalization in school. In this study, we examined the ways that immigrant and island-born Puerto Rican students (mean age = 13) with varying years of living in the mainland U.S. felt a sense of belonging in middle school, as well as the factors that undermined this. Based on individual, semi-structured interviews, our qualitative analyses revealed that being seen as competent, contributing members of the school community, as well as positive peer relations, facilitated sense of belonging. Perceptions of equality, where “every person matters equally,” also felt inclusive to students. However, lack of English language fluency as a source of bullying, ethnic-racial stereotypes, and perceived racialized treatment from both teachers and peers were powerful sources of “othering” for students, detracting from their feelings of acceptance. We discuss several key areas in which teachers and school counselors can engage in the practice of sensitive care for immigrant students as they seek to find their place in school, based on our findings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 First-generation immigrant children are those who were born outside the United States; second-generation immigrants are those who were born in the United States or its territories, with at least one foreign-born parent (Child Trends, 2018).

2 Foreign-born is defined as either a U.S. citizen by naturalization or not a citizen of the U.S.

3 This accounts for the higher percentage of males in the sample, since access to students at School B was restricted to this particular afterschool program. + Formal IRB approval for the study was granted by Wheelock College in Boston, MA.

4 Puerto Rican students are included in both characterizations, although not technically immigrants, as previously discussed.