The Belonging Collective
A blog focused on the research around belonging, connection and relationships in education and their impact on pupil performance and motivation.
You Belong here.
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it ’til now.” C.S Lewis
“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” Maya Angelou
Latest Blogposts
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Belonging, and the New Government League Tables.
The recent government white paper has brought the language of belonging closer to the centre of educational policy. Yet before we react to headlines or speculation, it is worth pausing to ask a more fundamental question: what does the government actually mean by belonging, and what might it expect schools to do with it? One…
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Reclaiming Teacher Agency.
There has been a shift in the air lately. You can hear it in policy documents, in the steady rise of prescribed curricula and tightly controlled pedagogical scripts. Trust, once the backbone of teacher professionalism, seems to be thinning. Recently, I seem to be reading more and more about the need to standardise teaching so…
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Let Love Rule
The power of leading with love. “You’ve got to let love rule.” I have had this line from Lenny Kravitz circling my mind for weeks now. Not just as a lyric stuck on repeat, because it is a great song, but as a question. What does it actually mean to let love rule, not just…
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Human Flourishing in an AI world.
This week I had the privilege of attending the Fully Human, Fully Alive conference hosted by the National Society of Education. It was a day dedicated to exploring the relationship between artificial intelligence and the future of education — and, perhaps more importantly, the future of humanity. It is increasingly clear that AI represents one…
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Collateral Damage
We have grown accustomed to the language of sacrifice. It rolls off press conferences and planning documents with alarming ease. Necessary losses. Acceptable risk. Unintended consequences. We package harm in sterile phrases and move on, convinced that the end—whatever shimmering achievement we have in mind—will justify the means. But surely one casualty is one too…
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Carrying One Another Across
The story of St Christopher. There’s something quietly compelling about the story of Saint Christopher. Not simply the dramatic image—of a broad-shouldered man wading through a swollen river with a child on his back—but the deeper invitation embedded within it: that faith is lived most fully when we carry one another through what feels impassable.…
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The Kitchen Table
Episode 1 Very excited to launch our new Podcast, “The Kitchen Table” Pull up a chair – this is where research meets relationships, and we’re diving deep into what it means to belong, matter, and fight for social justice in education. In this first episode of The Kitchen Table, Mohamed, Danielle, and I share our stories: from…
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What if you did something for no purpose?
What if you did something today not to achieve, improve, or produce — but simply because being present felt enough? This is at the heart of a Zen‑inspired practice that invites us to engage in actions without agenda or outcome, and the research suggests it could be more nourishing for our minds than we realise.…
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Why “The Village” Matters More Than Ever.
Education as a Collective Endeavour. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”This African proverb is a navigation star for the work we do — reminding us that learning, belonging and flourishing happen in relationship, not isolation. And when we say “it takes a village to raise…
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Throughout Life, We Belong Somewhere.
A Guest Blog from Bob Fox Bob is a friend and an elder in my village. Bob worked in education for many years, finishing his career as a secondary headteacher. He is active in village life, running clubs for drama, woodwork and art, as well as being an active supporter of the local school. Bob…
The Belonging Collective 