Examining the promotion of school connectedness through extracurricular participation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between school connectedness and participation in extracurricular activities. A current gap in the research prevents a complete understanding of the relationship between extracurricular participation and school connectedness; therefore, this study aimed to bridge this gap. It is reasonable to suggest that by simply improving the amount, type, and availability of activities, schools have the potential to help students become more motivated in their role as both a student and a community member. The objective was to provide further support to research implying that increased participation in school-based extracurricular activities improves and encourages school connectedness among students. Overall, the study was aimed at examining what factors predict school connectedness.

Data for this study were collected in a survey format from 252 grade 11 and grade 12 students from several rural Saskatchewan schools. A sequential multiple regression was performed to predict school connectedness. After adjusting for various sociodemographic characteristics, two independent variables predicted school connectedness: health-risk behaviours and extracurricular participation. This research was able to show that beyond factors such as age, gender, grade, and participation in health-risk factors, students who reported being involved in extracurricular activity reported higher scores of school connectedness. Extracurricular participation was associated positively with school connectedness, indicating that participating in extracurricular activities increases school connectedness. Health-risk factors were negative predictors of school connectedness. That is, students who reported participating in health-risk behaviours reported lower school connectedness scores. First Nations students report lower school connectedness scores than Caucasian students. The limitations, directions for future research and implications for practice of these findings are discussed.