A phenomenological inquiry into prospective EFL teachers’ perceived sense of belonging in school placement

Abstract

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.