Background: Students' sense of school belonging is important for mental health, physical health, and academic performance. However, some students do not feel as though they belong in their schools. This study investigated Greek secondary school students' perspectives on practices that enhanced their sense of belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

This paper considers what is at stake in the idea of universitas--a community of masters and scholars --in the context of the shifting landscape of higher education engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel, we consider what it means to be together in a university community. We draw a distinction between the…

Transnational routes such as direct-entry have become a more attractive option for Chinese students, due to the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions in China. The rise of Chinese direct-entry students can potentially lead to a significant increase in demand for academic and non-academic support not only after their arrival, but also before their…

Learning can happen anywhere but it often happens best when it occurs in connection with others. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened and caused many institutions to move all instruction to virtual modalities, many faculty and students expressed feelings of isolation and loneliness. In addition to that, anecdotal conversations with faculty and…

This essay explores how writing in community for EdD students can be pivotal in helping them succeed in their academic journey. Considering existing research, three UC Davis CANDEL EdD (Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership) students and recent alumni use a case study approach to highlight the ways writing in community was…

The current study examined whether college students' sense of belonging changed following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 252 (66.7% female) first- and second-year college students at a large public university in the United States. It was hypothesized that students would report a decrease in their sense of belonging from…

Objective: Speculation about the effects of COVID-19, especially on youth social development, has been mixed. This study aimed to examine change in loneliness and belongingness into the first month of stay-at-home orders (January through April 2020). Participants: College students (N = 73, mean age = 19.03 years, SD = 1.44 years) enrolled in a…

During COVID-19, international students were faced with the decision of remaining in their country of study or returning to their home countries, with little knowledge of when they would next be able to return or leave. Both choices left the students vulnerable to feelings of loneliness and social isolation. This paper examines how international…

During the unprecedented time of COVID-19, one art therapist noticed that her clients created images expressing their loneliness. To foster a sense of community catharsis, the art therapist worked with her clients to create an art display at a public mall to enable the general population to receive secondary therapeutic support for their own…

Purpose: In contrast to prior studies examining burnout in academic employees, this paper explores how academic employee agency mitigates burnout risks in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and how this agency facilitates research productivity and influences well-being in the face of changes in learning and teaching practices.…

Since early 2020, COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on teacher education. We consider novel aspects of how pre-service teachers have collaboratively developed their professional identities during the pandemic. Drawing on findings from forty-five interviews with pre-service high school teachers working in England during September 2020-June…

Searching for belonging is the transformative individual process of developing connections, making homes and hoping in the ecologies of a community. Belongingness influences academic performance, confidence and well-being. Therefore, understanding how students embody and search for belongingness in their higher education experience provides…

The purpose of this action research study was to understand and strengthen staff and administrators' sense of workplace belonging in a small, private, family-founded college. In Cycle 1 the researcher aimed to understand factors that contributed to participants sense of belonging. Cycle 1 participants responded to a survey to provide insight on…

Subjective well-being (SWB) of university students who had to study off-campus due to the pandemic was investigated in this current study. Studies had reported that one of the most robust factors of SWB is the sense of mattering. While the sense of mattering is built upon social feedback, being locked down limited their source of social feedback…

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the authors were in position to pivot their undergraduate and graduate Print/Paper/Book class to the online environment, having already decided to transition to a hybrid model for summer 2020. The course focus was previously geared toward students developing a practice that could be sustained outside the…