Le sentiment d'appartenance à l'école : un regard conceptuel, psychométrique et théorique

Since it is tightly linked to a certain number of positive consequences (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2008; Finn, 1989; Roeser & Eccles, 2009; Tinto 1987; Wehlage et al., 1989), school belonging is considered an important element that needs to be developed and maintained by Education professionals (MELS, 2012). This emphasis on school belonging instigated our doctoral research. The purpose of this study was to investigate further the concept of school belonging. We decided that the results obtained ought to be presented in three separate research articles.   This first article outlines a conceptual analysis to clarify the concept of the sense of school belonging. It focusses on Walker and Avant’s (2011) conceptual method. This method is useful to understand fully a concept. Data were collected through a comprehensive review of French and English definitions. The literature review and empirical referents gathered show that the concept is of a multidimensional nature. Data analysis shows four specific features. A student must : (1) feel a positive emotion; (2) interact socially; (3) get involved in his(her) environment; (4) perceive some similarity with members of his(her) group (fit).   After having understood the meaning of school belonging in the article 1, the second article aims at examining the factorial structure and the invariance of the instrument Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) with regards to boys and girls. The PSSM is a tool used to measure students' school belonging. This study was conducted among a sample of 766 girls and 391 boys in 10th grade. Three factors were identified, each representing students’ perceptions of their school environment: (1) quality of social relations students-students; (2) quality of social relations students-teachers and (3) feeling of acceptance. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the PSSM is an invariant instrument with regard to girls and boys.   Finally, the third article was conducted with 4166 (12th grade) high school students to determine the ways school belonging can be connected to academic achievement (Anderman & Freeman, 2004; Connell & et al., 1994; Roeser et al., 1996). To more thoroughly investigate these psychological processes, we applied the Anderman-Freeman model to validate the following hypotheses through path analysis; H1 Positive emotions positively and partially mediate the relationship between school belonging and behavioral engagement; H2 Positive emotions positively and partially mediate the relationship between school belonging and emotional engagement; H3 Positive emotions positively and partially mediate the positive relationship between school belonging and cognitive engagement; H4 Emotional, cognitive and behavioral engagement positively and partially mediate the positive relationship between school belonging and academic achievement. Our results partially support the first hypothesis. Our findings do support hypotheses two, three and four. Specifically, the relationship between school belonging and emotional engagement shows a more direct than an indirect effect (hypothesis two). The study produced similar results for cognitive engagement, i.e., a direct effect (hypothesis three). Finally, the relationship between school belonging and academic achievement indicates a more indirect than direct effect (hypothesis four). To conclude, we suggest some recommendations aimed at Education professionals.

Keyphrases: School belonging, Academic achievement, High school students