PORTA LINGUARUM, cilt.40, sa.4, ss.213-232, 2023 (AHCI)
While the sense of belonging has
seen a surge of interest in the field of social psychology, there has been a
scarcity of research on the construct during school placement in initial
teacher education (ITE) programs. The present study set out to explore the
sense of belonging experiences of three prospective English as a foreign
language (EFL) teacher during school placement along with the contributing
factors involved in establishing a sense of belonging. The findings from
exploratory focus group interviews with the participants and their graphic
elicitation tasks revealed that interpersonal relationships and institutional
factors possess essential roles in establishing a sense of belonging during
school placement. Finally, pedagogical implications are discussed so as to
enhance the effectiveness of school placement designs in ITE.