School assistants’ experiences of belonging
Sirkko, R.; Sutela, K.; Takala, M. (2022-09-13)
Taylor & Francis
13.09.2022
Sirkko, R., Sutela, K., & Takala, M. (2024). School assistants’ experiences of belonging. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(12), 2765–2781. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2022.2122607
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022092159732
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022092159732
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Providing quality education for all pupils requires cooperation from members of the entire school community. One group of professionals is school assistants, who, together with teachers, play an important role in supporting pupils and inclusive education. Due to pupils’ diverse needs, the responsibilities of school assistants in schools have broadened; yet, their role in the school community has rarely been studied. This study focuses on school assistants’ experiences and addresses the following research question: How is belonging argumented in school assistants’ narratives at their work? The data comprise free writings (N = 52) and interviews (N = 9) of school assistants’ work. The narratives are analysed using categorical-content analysis. The results yield three experiences of belonging: stories of belonging, stories between belonging and non-belonging and stories of non-belonging. The study data reveal how a school as an institution can be based on conventional practices, where relationships are often formed through hierarchies, old-fashioned work roles and exclusive meeting policies. The study’s conclusion encourages the recognition of structural inequalities in school communities.
Providing quality education for all pupils requires cooperation from members of the entire school community. One group of professionals is school assistants, who, together with teachers, play an important role in supporting pupils and inclusive education. Due to pupils’ diverse needs, the responsibilities of school assistants in schools have broadened; yet, their role in the school community has rarely been studied. This study focuses on school assistants’ experiences and addresses the following research question: How is belonging argumented in school assistants’ narratives at their work? The data comprise free writings (N = 52) and interviews (N = 9) of school assistants’ work. The narratives are analysed using categorical-content analysis. The results yield three experiences of belonging: stories of belonging, stories between belonging and non-belonging and stories of non-belonging. The study data reveal how a school as an institution can be based on conventional practices, where relationships are often formed through hierarchies, old-fashioned work roles and exclusive meeting policies. The study’s conclusion encourages the recognition of structural inequalities in school communities.
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