Unpacking Fingerprint Culture

Well hello there, and welcome to update #094!

This post summarises a fascinating webinar I had with Rachel Higginson discussing the elements of building belonging in our settings.

We know that belonging is important and one of the ways to make this explicit in our settings is to consider what it takes to cultivate an inclusive environment where each individual feels valued and understood.

Rachel has spent several years working with young people, particularly those on the periphery of education to help them back into mainstream education and participating in class, along with their peers.

Rachel’s work helping young people to integrate back into education resulted in schools requesting support and resources to embed inclusion within their settings. As a result, Finding My Voice has evolved into a broader curriculum development framework.

Finding my Voice emphasizes the importance of recognizing the distinct value of every young person in our settings. Rachel argues that the goal is to build a culture that reflects the diversity of individuals in the community, enabling them to contribute to a vibrant school environment.

In the webinar ‘Fingerprint Culture: exploring how to build for belonging’ Rachel talked about one young man, who struggled to find his place within the educational system due to his neurodiversity. After a transformative experience at the Met Office, where he learned about marine biology—a field he aspired to enter—this pupil returned to school engaged and motivated. This story highlighted the importance of understanding and nurturing each child's strengths and potential, which can often differ drastically from how they perceive themselves.

Rachel discussed the theory of belonging developed by researchers Baumeister and Leary, underscoring how belonging has an impact on emotional and cognitive development.

There are important nuances relating to whether pupils feel included (or excluded) and this can influence their engagement and behaviour in school life.

With the right sense of belonging, students become more receptive to learning and develop a stronger sense of self.

By contrast, Rachel also discussed the unintentional ‘othering’ which can happen when we unintentionally make some students feel different through well-intentioned efforts to include them. Rachel argues for the need to treat belonging as a verb—an ongoing action that fosters understanding and connection—rather than a checkbox to be ticked off once a year.

Underpinning Rachel’s work on Finding my Voice is Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory of motivation. The three components of self-determination theory consist of relatedness, competence, and autonomy.

‘Relatedness’ involves nurturing genuine connections between students and teachers, highlighting the need to reflect back the unique value every student brings to the community.

‘Competence’ focuses on the growth of skills and abilities across various disciplines, including the social and emotional skills necessary for collaboration and resilience.

Finally, creating ‘autonomy’ means providing young people with opportunities over time to take control of their learning, allowing them to become masters of their subject areas and their own life experiences.

Deep listening is vital for understanding the unique needs of each student, including their backgrounds and the cultural histories of their schools.

We need to aim for ‘authentic listening’, which involves adults working in schools to engage deeply with their students' experiences and community contexts.

In the Finding my Voice resources, Rachel has a pyramid model for building an inclusive culture within schools. The base is to establish a supportive environment that allows students to thrive, gradually building their competence and ensuring they feel a sense of ownership over their learning.

Another strand is the idea of ‘story stewardship’, which means ensuring that every pupil has one adult in the school who knows their story and can support their development. This connection allows young people to integrate who they are outside of school with their learning and experiences inside the classroom.

At the heart of developing a fingerprint culture is understanding individual pupils’ needs, cultivating a sense of belonging, and fostering intrinsic motivation to create a thriving, inclusively engaged learning community.

When we have created environments where young people feel seen, heard, and valued, our young people will thrive both personally and academically.

If you’d like to know more about the Finding my Voice programme, there’s more here!

Until next time

Mary