2026 PISA - Radical Belonging, Strategies for Student Engagement and Attendance

This session is intended for the tasks of ONLY the planning and hosting team(s) of the Professional Association.

What makes a student feel that they truly belong at school? A critical part of the answer is mattering, which is the feeling that we are significant to others, valued, and noticed. Drawing on developmental science and large-scale population-based research with children and adolescents, this presentation will examine how mattering and school belonging are connected to students’ mental health, peer relationships, engagement, and experiences at school. Particular attention will be given to the everyday features of school environments that communicate to students that they matter—or that they do not—including relationships with teachers and peers, bullying and exclusion, fairness, safety, and school climate. The presentation will also consider why some students are especially vulnerable to feeling disconnected from school and how these experiences may contribute to disengagement and absenteeism. Throughout the presentation, research findings will be translated into practical strategies that school psychologists, counsellors, teachers, and other school staff can use to strengthen mattering, belonging, and connection in their schools.

BIO:
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health and Violence Prevention at the University of Ottawa where she is cross appointed as a full professor in Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education and the School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences. Dr. Vaillancourt is also a member of the Brain and Mind Institute, Faculty of Medicine and the Centre for Health Law, Policy, and Ethics, Faculty of Law, uOttawa. She is the past president of the International Society for Research on Aggression, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the chair of the RSC/CCUNESCO COVID-19 Canada Learning Loss working group, and the Chief Editor, Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – Child Mental Health and Interventions. She is also a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

School absenteeism is a challenging issue facing schools and families. In this interactive session, Jess will explore different stories of absenteeism that highlight the complexity and diversity of students’ experiences. She will share some recent research and engage participants in exploring approaches that have shown promise in supporting students and improving attendance.

PISA's Annual General Meeting