From 2012 to 2015, students' academic performance at a community college in North Carolina fell below North Carolina Community College System baseline benchmarks despite the institution's adoption of several student success initiatives. Building from the established correlation between student academic achievement and academic engagement and the importance of noncognitive competencies in moderating student academic engagement, this qualitative case study investigated the academic experiences of 7 students who were members of the Paying It Forward mentoring program to determine the types of support and resources that students needed to develop and hone intrinsic motivation, sense of belonging, and self-efficacy-the noncognitivenoncognitive competencies proven to most directly moderate academic engagement. The guiding frameworks included a student-engagement framework developed by the Chicago Consortium on School Research, the learner-centered curriculum framework, and the generalized internal/external model. The research questions focused on specific factors that facilitated students' development of intrinsic motivation, sense of belonging, and academic confidence. The findings identified relationships between student academic performance and academic engagement as moderated by these noncognitivenoncognitive competencies and supported previous research concerning the invaluable role of faculty in developing students' sense of belonging. A resulting professional development project may enable faculty to systematically bolster students' academic engagement and performance by directly supporting mastery of these noncognitivenoncognitive competencies. This project may contribute to social change through increased graduation and transfer rates, which would create opportunities for enhanced social capital.

The goal of this study is to contribute to understandings of parent-school relationships involving parents of students with autism by exploring notions of belonging with a small group of parents. The purpose of the study is to describe the experiences of middle school parents of children with autism. From these descriptions, I examined how parents of students with autism might contribute to understandings of belonging in school-family partnerships and enable schools and families to collaborate more effectively. This study addresses an apparent gap in understandings of belonging of parents of children with autism in their relationships with their child's school. As parents are asked to make connections with their children's school in parent-school partnerships, understandings of those connections are vital to generating and sustaining meaningful and effective relationships between parents and schools. This study uses thick descriptive methods (Geetz, 1973) to examine the phenomenon of belonging in parent-school partnerships among a small group of parents of middle school children with autism. The experiences of the parents in this study suggest that parents of middle school students with autism seek a sense of belonging in their relationships with those they work with regarding their children's schooling. This study also suggests that a sense of belonging may be an essential element of effective parent-school partnerships.

Starting college is an exciting and pivotal time for students. During this time, the student will be faced with challenges of his or her social identity and will need to develop or modify identities based on new social situations. Previous research shows that social media play a role in identity development, but there is little information regarding the extent. Are new college students using Facebook during their transition to communicate their new identity/social group to new peers? Are they using Facebook to maintain nostalgia for previous identities/social groups? This information will be valuable to higher education professionals working with these populations - particularly in determining the most effective methods to communicate support during their transition. Using a phenomenological, qualitative approach with individual interviews of new college students in their first semester of college, this study seeks to clarify the college transition and identify what ways new college students are using Facebook during their transition. Participants identified three key themes of their college transition: a fear of not fitting in, wanting a sense of belonging, and wanting to stay connected with high school friends. Overall, the students interviewed had a successful transition and utilized Facebook to assist in each of the three themes they identified. Specifically, though, new college students are using the Group feature of Facebook to create a community of peers. The use of Facebook and Groups leads to a more successful student with a quicker and stronger adjustment to college. Higher education administrators can take advantage of this data to enhance existing strategies to increase student success.

In 1975 Indonesian forces invaded Dili, the capital of East Timor. The invasion and ensuing occupation forced thousands of East Timorese to leave their homes and seek refuge in Australia and other countries. This study considers the situation of a particular group of East Timorese refugees: those who fled to Australia during the 1990s and who were children or young adolescents at the time of their flight. Founded upon an understanding of social identity as being constantly transformed though a dialectic relation between the individual and his or her sociocultural surroundings, this dissertation considers the consequences of refugee experiences on individual identity and belonging, as well as the processes of conceptualising self and negotiating identity within changing social and cultural structures. The relationship between conflict and flight, resettlement, acculturation, identity and attachment is explored, and particular attention is given to issues of socialisation and categorisation, age and agency, hybridity, and ambiguity. Through a qualitative anthropological methodology informed by theories of cultural identity, adolescence and cross-cultural socialisation, the thesis seeks to shed light on the various dynamics that have influenced the young East Timorese people’s identity and sense of belonging, and considers the impact of acculturation and socialisation into a new culture at a critical period of the young people’s lives. / Masters Thesis

This study reports on an investigation into individuals’ experiences of spiritual leisure. Though there is a range of literature and research that examines the independent concepts of leisure and spirituality, there continues to be a lack of empirical research into the existence and experience of leisure that may be spiritual. Given that both traditional and ongoing understandings of leisure emphasise their impact on the whole of the person, this lack of attention to the spiritual dimension creates a gap in our understanding. Leisure is increasingly seen as having a role to play in human well-being. What is less well known is the role and place of spirituality in that interplay. It is recognised that a sense of spirituality can be accessed in a diversity of ways, through, for example prayer, meditation and an engagement with sacred places. The spiritual forum of leisure however, remains less acknowledged and understood despite the fact that spiritual benefits have been identified as part of leisure participation. The purpose of this study was to develop insight into the existence and nature of this relationship by exploring the phenomenon of spiritual leisure experiences. As a primary research focus, this topic is rarely directly considered. Rather it is most often raised as an anecdotal benefit of leisure, a philosophical potential for leisure, or more recently, a component of people’s spiritual and general well-being. Based on personal interest, informed by intuition and grounded in the theoretical and philosophical concepts of leisure and spirituality, this study sought to fill some gaps in our understandings of spiritual leisure experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, this descriptive, qualitative study aimed to explore the subjective meanings individuals give to experiences they refer to as spiritual leisure. Thus, 24 co-researchers were invited to share their self-defined spiritual leisure experiences, through open, unstructured interviews and reflective journaling. The leisure experiences the co-researchers described as spiritual occurred within various locations and involved multiple contexts. These included social and solo experiences, nature based or urban environments and active or passive pursuits. Reflective of what happened, the descriptions of the co-researchers revealed that spiritual leisure experiences could vary in situation, conditions, activity and contexts. The meanings behind these descriptions were also sought and three groupings of common themes were recognised: namely triggers; responses and outcomes. These structural components of spiritual leisure were interrelated in the co-researchers conscious understandings and represented a suite of feelings, thoughts, sensations and meanings embedded in the context, actions and locations of their leisure. Finally, the research included an exploration of the underlying essences of the experiences. Five interrelated essences of spiritual leisure emerged representing the phenomenon of spiritual leisure. These were: experiencing self; time and space for self; being; becoming; and belonging. Overall, the results demonstrated that experiences of leisure that were spiritual were evident for the 24 co-researchers. The experience of spiritual leisure was understood as an event that was lived physically, emotionally and affectively and while it varied in context it also shared the characteristics of providing a forum for knowing, being and becoming more of the self. In spiritual leisure, individuals found a life-space in which to discover and know aspects of themselves and to feel a sense of belonging. This study clearly identifies leisure as a valuable and edifying aspect of some people’s lives in relation to developing their spiritual self or for experiencing their spirituality. The essential themes remind us of the true potential leisure can have in people’s lives. More broadly, the study acknowledges the nature of spiritual leisure, its structural components and the value of studying the phenomenon from the perspective of the experiencing person.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has for centuries been known as an isolated island of archaeological mysteries; yet after a rapid modernisation this is today an international tourist destination, a World Heritage Site and a glocalised community. This anthropological study based on long-term fieldwork among young Rapa Nui on the island and away, describes how it can be to grow up in and to belong to such a place. Place is seen as a continually constructed social space and is influenced by Miriam Kahn??s use of Henri Lefebvre??s concept thirdspace. Rapa Nui, as a place, people and community, is here understood as continuously formed by global and local influences. Thus, although historical, global and national influences can seem overwhelming in such a small tourist destination with a turbulent colonial history, this study also sees the opinions and practices of the inhabitants as important agents. This thesis shows how young Rapa Nui are both influenced by and influencing what Rapa Nui is and becomes. Above all, their guiding principle seems to be a continuing strong attachment to their land ??also called Te Pito o te Henua (??The Navel of the World??).

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att förstå och beskriva upplevelser av delaktighet under rehabiliteringsprocessen. Studien utgick från fem intervjuer som utfördes hos personer som har varit långtidssjukskrivna och som har deltagit i olika rehabiliteringsinsatser. Intervjuerna bearbetades kvalitativ, textanalysen utfördes utifrån hermeneutisk teori och metod. Frågeställningen var inriktad mot klienternas upplevelse av delaktighet under rehabiliteringsprocessen. Resultatet visade att delaktighet har förekommit vid rehabiliteringen, men begreppet har olika ansikten. Det konstaterades att motivation är nära förknippad med graden av engagemang i olika rehabiliteringsaktiviteter. Även handlingsutrymme och inflytande i de beslut klienterna har deltagit i har spelat roll för individens delaktighet. Vidare alla klienter hade en hög grad av tillhörighet/ samhörighet.</p> / <p>The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of the participation during the rehabilitation process. The study started out from five interviews with persons who have been long term sick and who have taken part in different rehabilitation programs. The interviews were worked up by a qualitative method, the analysis of the text were made by a hermeneutic theory and method. The question of the study was directed towards the clients' experiences of involvement during the rehabilitation process. The result showed that the clients have felt an involvement in the rehabilitation process, but the concept has different faces. It has been established that motivation is close related to the level of commitment of different activities of the rehabilitation. The ability to private action and influence in the decisions where the clients were involved has also played a part for the participation of the individual. Furthermore all clients had a strong sense of belonging.</p>

Public and private sectors are grappling with decreasing numbers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals as the need for them rises. State-supported STEM residential high schools may be the premier conduit to educate and socialize students in order to prepare for STEM college majors and careers. Gaining understanding of how these schools can nurture students academically and affectively so that they successfully matriculate to university STEM settings is valuable; however, minimal research exists related to the affective domain in relationship to retention at state-supported STEM residential schools. This exploratory, mixed methods case study describes factors that contribute to student persistence in a residential school setting. This study had four purposes: a) to describe students’ meaning of belonging at a STEM residential school; b) to explore potential relationships between students’ personality traits, expectations fulfillment, and belonging; c) to explore potential relationships between belonging and persistence, expectation fulfillment and persistence, and personality traits and persistence, and d) to describe characteristics of persistors and non-persistors. Participants in the study were the student population of the Tennessee Governor’s Academy for Mathematics and Science (TGA) (n = 41). Following interviews of the population, qualitative analysis of the interviews included pattern coding and creation of an explanatory effects matrix; quantitative analysis of survey data utilized ANOVA, chi-square, and correlation. Results of analyses produced a student-generated, multidimensional definition of belonging and showed that students who perceived they belonged and expressed institutional commitment via ownership of TGA had the highest persistence rate (100%). Quantitative findings showed that students whose expectations for TGA were met or exceeded had a higher sense of belonging, and belonging was associated with higher persistence. The personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and work drive were significantly related to belonging, suggesting that sense of belonging may function as a moderator between personality traits and expectation fulfillment. For future study, a longitudinal design is recommended as well as incorporation of the variable educational practices in relation to the variables expectation fulfillment, personality, belonging, and persistence.

Syftet med denna studie var att förstå och beskriva upplevelser av delaktighet under rehabiliteringsprocessen. Studien utgick från fem intervjuer som utfördes hos personer som har varit långtidssjukskrivna och som har deltagit i olika rehabiliteringsinsatser. Intervjuerna bearbetades kvalitativ, textanalysen utfördes utifrån hermeneutisk teori och metod. Frågeställningen var inriktad mot klienternas upplevelse av delaktighet under rehabiliteringsprocessen. Resultatet visade att delaktighet har förekommit vid rehabiliteringen, men begreppet har olika ansikten. Det konstaterades att motivation är nära förknippad med graden av engagemang i olika rehabiliteringsaktiviteter. Även handlingsutrymme och inflytande i de beslut klienterna har deltagit i har spelat roll för individens delaktighet. Vidare alla klienter hade en hög grad av tillhörighet/ samhörighet. / The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of the participation during the rehabilitation process. The study started out from five interviews with persons who have been long term sick and who have taken part in different rehabilitation programs. The interviews were worked up by a qualitative method, the analysis of the text were made by a hermeneutic theory and method. The question of the study was directed towards the clients' experiences of involvement during the rehabilitation process. The result showed that the clients have felt an involvement in the rehabilitation process, but the concept has different faces. It has been established that motivation is close related to the level of commitment of different activities of the rehabilitation. The ability to private action and influence in the decisions where the clients were involved has also played a part for the participation of the individual. Furthermore all clients had a strong sense of belonging.

In this thesis, transnational adoption is used as an illustrative example to address the tension between caring and differentiating aspects of the discursive practice of Swedish welfare. Drawing mainly upon postcolonial conceptualizations of nation and family, the discursive constitution of transnational adoption, transnational adoptees, and transnational adoptive families as objects of knowledge is explored. The analysis focuses on how national and familial belonging and difference are constructed. The empirical material consists of political reports, research reports, social work handbooks and educational material, published between 1997 and 2008. As the relationship between discourse and knowledge is of particular interest, Michel Foucault’s archeology is used as a methodological perspective. While the knowledge produced on transnational adoption could be read as well-intended concern, it may at the same time be read as a process where normalization and racialization come into effect, and where a particular image of Sweden is constructed. I suggest a reading that can be summarized in terms of the logic of blood and roots. Transnational adoptees are racialized through essentialist notions of national, cultural and ethnic belonging. They are ascribed a split identity, and are advised to cultivate their belonging to their birth families and birth places. Transnational adoptees of color are ascribed a difference in relation to their adoptive families as well as the Swedish national family, both imagined as white. Within the adoptive family, the assumed lack of family resemblances is portrayed as a continuous source of problems. These problems are naturalized by the way this knowledge on transnational adoption is institutionalized. Seeking psychological counseling is constructed as a responsible parental act. In the discursive practice of Swedish welfare, the national inclusion of the adoptive family is conditioned by a differentiating logic.