Roughly four in ten American high school students report not feeling connected to anyone at their school. Host Scott Titsworth talks with Dr. Dominique Smith — principal of Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego and co-author of the new second edition of Belonging in School: Creating a Place Where Kids Want to Learn and Teachers Want to Stay — about why the effort students spend trying to fit in is the very thing that pulls them away from learning.

Smith came to school leadership by an unusual route, holding a master’s degree in social work alongside a doctorate in educational leadership, and he is a national trainer for the International Institute for Restorative Practices. In this conversation he breaks belonging into eleven distinct dimensions, makes the case that it functions as the gatekeeper for learning, and describes what a teacher can actually do on a Monday morning with no budget and nobody’s permission.

Belonging in School, second edition (Corwin): https://www.corwin.com/books/belonging-in-school-2e-301936

Health Sciences High and Middle College: https://www.hshmc.org

Teaching Matters is hosted by Scott Titsworth, Professor of Instructional Communication in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. The show is produced in collaboration with WOUB Public Media and the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact at Ohio University.

Questions or guest suggestions: Teachingmatterspodcast@ohio.edu