Strengthening Community: Multiple Lenses of Belonging

Abstract

Belonging matters to students, and yet their perspectives on what shapes it remains largely absent from the research. This action research inquiry asked students at J.N. Burnett Secondary School in Richmond, BC to share and co-analyze their experiences of belonging and community, using an anonymous photovoice-inspired survey and a youth action planning workshop, conducted in accordance with approval from Royal Roads University's Research Ethics Board and Richmond School District No. 38. Eleven students completed the survey, and six took part in a follow-up workshop where they reviewed the survey responses, named patterns, and discussed possible next steps. The students who participated described belonging as rooted in relational connection, actively created through inclusion, shaped by difference and misunderstanding, and fragile in ways that are not always visible from the outside. What they shared points toward a shared responsibility, among students, teachers, and the broader school community, to treat belonging not as a program to implement but as something built through everyday choices and genuine care.