Students’ experiences of social integration in schoolwide activities—an investigation in the Finnish context

ABSTRACT

The question of how students’ sense of membership and connectedness to their school can be supported through school practices concerns educational contexts internationally. According to the Programme of International Student Achievement test, students’ experiences of school belonging have decreased and polarized in many of the participating countries since the 2003 test. This study provides new knowledge about the topic by investigating students’ experiences of schoolwide activities from the perspective of social integration. The study approaches social integration from the conceptual pre-understanding presented in Jürgen Habermas’ (1984; 1987) theory of communicative action about the creation of solidarity among groups. The study is based on interview data with Finnish lower secondary students (14–16 years old). The findings show that schoolwide events can be valuable for creating social integration, but the negative aspects of school community may also culminate during these occurrences. This study provides new knowledge about how social integration is constructed in schoolwide events through cultural-level values and commitments, school community-level practices, and personal-level interactions among students. This study has practical importance for developing school practices internationally.

KEYWORDS:

• Social integration
• school belonging
• Habermas
• lifeworld
• schoolwide activities

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Professor Fred Dervin, PhD, for his valuable comments on this paper. She also expresses her gratitude to the Finnish Cultural Foundation for the research grant that supported this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pia-Maria Niemi

Pia-Maria Niemi, MTh, is pursuing her doctorate in education at the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland, where she has also worked as a university teacher. Her research interests include the school as a social context, intercultural education and pedagogical choices. Niemi is a qualified subject teacher and holds a master’s degree in theology with a major in comparative study of religions and minors in education and psychology.