While ‘belonging’ has a long and established place in the psycho-social literature on human functioning, it is a much less prominent construct in Initial Teacher Education. The present article seeks to address this gap by exploring student teachers’ experiences of belonging during teaching practice. Seventeen participants contributed to the study, with a range of qualitative methods being used including focus group and semi-structured individual interviews, as well as online discussion forum data. Analysis revealed three interrelating dimensions, at whole-school, interpersonal and personal levels, with their interaction being central to student teachers’ achievement of belonging. The implications for those involved in supporting student teachers’ professional development while on school placement are subsequently considered.

尽管“归属”在有关人类功能的社会心理学文献中已久且确立，但它在初始教师教育中的地位却要低得多。本文旨在通过探索学生教师在教学实践中的归属感来解决这一差距。有17位参与者为这项研究做出了贡献，并使用了一系列定性方法，包括焦点小组和半结构化的个人访谈，以及在线讨论论坛数据。分析揭示了在整个学校，人际关系和个人层面上的三个相互关联的维度，它们之间的相互作用对于学生教师的归属感至关重要。随后考虑了那些对在学校安置期间支持学生教师的专业发展的人的影响。