By: Danish Kurani

Here’s an alarming statistic: in a 2019 survey of 47,000 high school students, just 40% of students said they felt like “a real part of this school.” That means 60% of students show up to school each day feeling, to some degree, like outsiders. Given the intense isolation many students have felt during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to imagine this lack of belonging has gotten any better. In fact, it’s likely gotten worse.

So, what happens to those kids? Research shows that a lack of belonging at school causes students to disengage. Their performance suffers. And they come to believe that certain futures aren’t available to them. 

Danish Kurani is an architect and created the Baaham design philosophy. In 2021, Fast Company named him one of the world’s Most Innovative Architects.

The post How to Design a School for Belonging appeared first on Getting Smart.