Cultivating school-based ecosystems for belonging: the SchoolWeavers case study in Catalonia, Spain

Abstract

Purpose The Catalan and Spanish context has a renowned tradition oriented towards educational innovation and transformation. However, schools are currently at a turning point, where after many changes have been brought about at a methodological, organizational and conceptual level, there has been a halt partly due to the effects of the pandemic and post-pandemic but also to other causes linked to a change in legislation and some professional exhaustion (Díaz-Gibson et al., 2022; Martínez-Celorrio, 2016). In a post-pandemic context, school leaders are called to regenerate school communities to enhance learning for human flourishing of all community members, including students, teachers, staff members and families. The paper examines how school leaders can weave flourishing learning ecosystems for belonging, analyzing school leaders’ experience with SchoolWeavers as a tool to diagnose the health of the learning ecosystem and to weave learning and flourishing in five schools in Catalonia, Spain. The research takes place in schools where the leadership teams have been promoting student-centered instructional initiatives since 2018. Design/methodology/approach The case study analyzes 5 schools in Catalonia that serve students from 6 to 16 years old, located in communities with diverse governance nature – state, charter and private and zone-urban and rural and sizes. The study uses the SchoolWeavers online questionnaires targeting the whole school community, obtaining a total of 1,576 valid responses: 667 from students, 769 from families and 130 from teachers. Data describe holistic perception around the school-based ecosystem health and development, providing scores for various dimensions of the learning environment and for learning outcomes. Specifically, the paper describes Pearson correlations between the relational fabric, learning environments and sense of belonging. Findings Results show that strong relationships between students, teachers and families create learning ecosystems where everyone feels that they belong, fostering a supportive and flourishing environment where students experiment, teachers innovate and families engage. Thus, seeding the relational fabric of the school community fuels motivation, engagement and innovation, ultimately leading to an increased collective sense of belonging and supporting the flourishing of all students. Originality/value This paper sheds some light on what are the conditions that leaders need to be aware of in the design of effective school ecosystems for belonging and flourishing. School leaders play a vital role in setting the tone for this ecosystem by modeling positive relationships, collaboration and open communication across school stakeholders, but also across the community. By allocating resources to support these efforts, leaders can create a flourishing school ecosystem where everyone feels included, safe to take risks, learns from mistakes and thrives.