SENSE OF BELONGING
We are committed to a (teacher) education program where everyone feels welcome, valued, and supported.
We focus on creating a safe and brave learning environment that fosters open conversations about diversity, identity, and inclusion. We provide tools and methods that empower teachers and students to actively promote belonging and well-being, both inside and outside the classroom. We collect and share inspiring practices that demonstrate how belonging and well-being can transform education. Above all, we work to remove barriers so that every pupil, student and teacher can reach their full potential.
Why is this important? A strong sense of belonging and well-being is the foundation for learning, resilience, and growth. It enables pupils, students and teachers to engage, develop, and make a positive impact together. By investing in this pillar, we build an inclusive, future-oriented (teacher) education program where everyone feels at home.
Meet the team
Evelien Flamez is a lecturer at KU Leuven School of Education. Within the Master of Teaching programmes, she teaches the courses Learning in Socially Engaged Education, Teaching in a Superdiverse Society, and Educational Research. In addition, as a member of the international TEN network, she focuses on sense of belonging and well-being in educational contexts.
Renske de Leeuw is part of the research group Progressive Education at Saxion University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands). She teaches the course Literature Research at the educational Master’s Learning and Innovation – Teacher Leader. The research topics she focuses on include inclusive education from primary through higher education, student voice and pupil participation and curriculum development (e.g. AI in education).
Chidia Ari is a lecturer at KU Leuven School of Education. She teaches in the Master of Teaching programmes, including the courses Learning in Socially Engaged Education and Teacher in a Superdiverse Society. She is also part of the international TEN network, where she focuses on themes such as sense of belonging and well-being within educational contexts.
Randy Samyn is a lecturer at KU Leuven School of Education, where he coordinates the course Teacher in a Superdiverse Society. Within the Master of Teaching programme in Social Sciences, he has contributed to teaching in areas such as citizenship education, subject didactics in the social sciences, philosophical dialogue, and Case4EU. With a background in social work and moral philosophy, he is driven by an interest in how people learn, connect, and make sense of the world. He also brings experience from secondary and adult education, having co-designed and coordinated programmes from secondchance education to educational pathways within the penitentiary system. As part of the international TEN network, he explores questions about belonging and well-being, and how educational spaces can offer meaningful opportunities for growth.
Dr. Chrischar Rock is a citizenship, multiculturalism, and human rights practitioner with over twenty years of international experience in teaching and facilitation. For 14 years, she served as Head of Citizenship Education at two inner-city comprehensive colleges in North London, where she also advised on national initiatives promoting citizenship education, youth engagement, and political literacy. She has mentored teacher trainees at the UCL Institute of Education and coached emerging leaders through the Mandela Washington Fellowship’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). A Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education alumna, Dr. Rock also holds a Master’s degree in Education and International Development from UCL (UK).
Currently, she lectures in Practical Learning at Stellenbosch University. Her research focuses on democratic citizenship education in schools, with particular interest in teachers’ practices, reflective tools, and the development of self-criticality in professional teaching contexts. She hopes to bring this wealth of experience and interests to the international TEN network.
Dr. Nesrin Oruç Ertürk is the Program Head of the Master’s in English Language Teaching at İzmir University of Economics. With over twenty-five years of experience in ELT and teacher education, she has taught and conducted research in Turkey, the United States, and Europe. A former Fulbright scholar at the State University of New York and long-term adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland Global Campus, her research interests include teacher professional identity, inclusive education, lifelong learning, and language assessment. She has coordinated and participated in numerous EU-funded Erasmus+ projects and has published extensively in international journals and edited volumes. Prof. Oruç Ertürk also serves on several international editorial and advisory boards.