PISA 2022 Results for Students Sense of Belonging at School

Source: Rebecca Zaal / Pexels

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is widely recognized for evaluating 15-year-olds’ competencies in key areas like mathematics, reading, and science. Although media attention often focuses on country rankings in these traditional domains, PISA also explores other crucial aspects of education, such as students’ sense of belonging at school.

The PISA 2022 Results (Volume II): Learning During – and From – Disruption is a potential resource for schools interested in belonging, but it spans nearly 500 pages (OECD, 2023). You were not alone if the report was too long to read. Considering its length, this post distills essential belonging-related quotations sourced directly from the report and referenced by page number.

This summary is for parents, teachers, educators, school leaders, and other stakeholders focusing on student belonging within their educational contexts.

Disclaimer

Readers are encouraged to consult the full report for a complete understanding and nuanced interpretation of the data. The data on students’ sense of belonging at school is complex and best understood within the report’s context. This summary of quotes herein aims to provide a starting point rather than a comprehensive analysis.

Current State of Belonging for Students

• “On average across OECD countries, students’ sense of belonging at school deteriorated between 2018 and 2022; however, this was worse for ‘disadvantaged students’ sense of belonging at school [which] deteriorated… while advantaged students’ sense of belonging remained stable. …Disadvantaged students in 2022 were more likely than their advantaged peers to report feeling that they have fewer opportunities to form close bonds at and with school.”
• “Between 2018 and 2022, trends in students’ sense of belonging at school were mixed with equal proportions of countries/economies showing stable, improving, or deteriorating trends. Of the 47 education systems with improving or stable trends, only 20 maintained or attained a level of students’ sense of belonging at school that was at or above the OECD average.”
• “In systems where students reported an above-average sense of belonging at school, students were less likely to report feeling lonely at school and more likely to report that they make friends easily.”
• “Students’ sense of belonging at school was at or above the OECD average in 28 education systems; in 23 of those systems, students’ sense of belonging at school was above the OECD average. In these systems, most students reported feeling socially connected at school.”

How Countries Performed

• “Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, and Chinese Taipei students… reported a sense of belonging at school that was at or above the OECD average in 2022.”

• “Cambodia, Jamaica, the Philippines, and Macao (China) were the only systems where disadvantaged students reported feeling as socially connected at school as their advantaged peers. However, the average sense of belonging among all students in these systems was below the OECD average.”

Benefits of Belonging

• “On average across OECD countries, students who reported feeling safe and were not exposed to bullying or risks at school have a stronger sense of belonging at school, feel more confident about their capacity for self-directed learning and are overall more satisfied with life.”
• “Across education systems, students’ average performance in mathematics is only moderately related to students’ sense of belonging at school, and mostly before accounting for countries’/economies’ per capita GDP. This means that the association between performance and sense of belonging at school reflects the tendency for wealthier countries/economies to perform better in mathematics and for the students in those countries to feel a greater sense of belonging at school.”
• “Students feel less lonely at school and make friends more easily in education systems where students have a greater sense of belonging at school.”

Building Belonging

• “In education systems with fewer problems with remote learning, students reported a stronger sense of belonging at school.”
• “Students who received greater support were more satisfied with life, felt more strongly that they belong at school, and felt more confident about their capacity for self-directed learning.”
• “Students who reported more support from schools during school closures also reported…. more strongly that they belong at school.”
• “Across all countries/economies, smaller classes and fewer students per teacher were associated with a stronger sense of belonging at school.”

COVID-Specific Barriers and Opportunities

• “Students in education systems with fewer problems with remote learning reported a stronger sense of belonging at school.”
• “Countries/economies that avoided long school closures for more of their students, according to student reports, had more stable or improving trends in their sense of belonging at school.”

Belonging Barriers

• Bullying: “Students who are frequently bullied are more likely to be dissatisfied with their life, and a prevalence of bullying in school is related to a weaker sense of belonging at school.” Note. “In all countries and economies, verbal and relational bullying (e.g., making fun of other students, spreading nasty rumors) occurred more frequently than physical bullying (e.g., hitting or pushing other students around, taking away, or destroying things that belong to other students.”
• Grade Repetition: “Students who had repeated a grade multiple times…reported a weaker sense of belonging at school.” Note. “The multiple repeaters were, in comparison to students who had never repeated a grade, more likely to be boys, socioeconomically disadvantaged, with an immigrant background, and low-achievers in mathematics, reading, and science. …They were more likely to have skipped a whole day of school and missed school for at least three months.”
• Socioeconomic factors: “More socioemotional aspects such as problems finding someone who could help with their schoolwork or motivating themselves to do schoolwork were more strongly related to students’ sense of belonging than to more logistical aspects such as problems with internet access or with access to a digital device when they needed it.”

Things Schools Can Do

• Peer-to-Peer Tutoring: “Peer-to-peer tutoring is associated with an increase in students’ sense of belonging at school.”
• Family Support: “Students who were supported at home had more positive attitudes towards school and learning.” Students with high rates of school belonging students “reported that their family regularly (‘about once or twice a week’ or ‘every day or almost every day’) eats the main meal together, spends time just talking with them, or asks them what they did in school that day.” According to the PISA findings, “Families of low performers may stress the importance of upper secondary or future education more frequently to motivate students to put greater effort into their studies.”
• Feeling Safe: “Feeling safe at school was positively related to a range of aspects of well-being, particularly strongly to a sense of belonging and life satisfaction.” Note. “Overall, students feel safe at school, particularly in their classrooms. However, PISA 2022 results suggest that education systems could consider improving safety on students’ way to or from school or in places outside of the classroom, such as hallways, cafeterias, or restrooms. About 10 percent of students disagreed or strongly disagreed that they feel safe in these places, on average across OECD countries.”
• Smaller Classes: “Across all countries/economies, smaller classes and fewer students per teacher were associated with a stronger sense of belonging at school, even after accounting for per capita GDP.”
• Qualified Staff: “Across all countries/economies, students’ sense of belonging at school weakened between 2018 and 2022 in schools whose principals reported an increase in the lack of, or in inadequate or poorly qualified, assisting staff during the period.”
• Teacher Support: “In most education systems, students who reported more support from teachers and a better disciplinary climate in mathematics lessons scored higher in mathematics and reported greater well-being. The latter includes students’ sense of belonging at school, overall satisfaction with life, confidence in their capacity for self-directed learning, and less mathematics anxiety.” Yet, the PISA 2022 results also suggested that “In half of all countries/economies and on average across OECD countries, teacher support deteriorated from 2012 to 2022. For instance, the share of students who reported that the teacher gives extra help when students need it in most or every lesson decreased by three percentage points…Almost 40 percent of students reported that, in most lessons, the teacher does not show an interest in every student’s learning or does not continue teaching until students understand.”