Facilitator A:

Hi everyone! Thank you for joining this focus group. I’m [Name of Facilitator A] and I’m here with [Name of Facilitator B]. We are some of the researchers who have been working on this project this summer, called Youth as Architects of Belonging. We have been working with two research organizations – the Othering & Belonging Institute which is part of UC Berkeley, and Perception Institute. We are conducting research to explore the question: What helps young people feel a sense of belonging? In this focus group, feeling a sense of belonging means you can be your true, authentic self and you feel heard, respected, and that you are part of a community.

Part of exploring belonging includes this focus group! We’re here to learn from what you share. In this focus group, we’re going to talk about what helps, what doesn’t, and what could improve belonging. 

This focus group will last 1 hour. We are going to ask you all some questions. We might follow up or ask you for more detail on something you shared. We are going to record the audio for this so we don’t miss anything important when we debrief, reflect on, and analyze the themes that came up today. The recording won’t be shared with anyone outside of the research team at Perception Institute or the Othering & Belonging Institute. We will keep all of the information provided during the focus group as confidential as possible, and we strongly encourage all participants to do the same. However, we cannot guarantee that your information will not be shared after the focus group is over, so please do not talk about anything that you do not want to be made public. If you’re not okay with being recorded, that’s totally fine and you can let us know and leave the focus group now.

Facilitator B:

We want everyone to feel comfortable and safe sharing. Here are a few guidelines for us to follow during this focus group: 

• If you want to share something, you can raise your hand. This will help prevent us from interrupting or talking over each other.
  • [For virtual focus groups]: If you want to raise your hand using the zoom “raise hand” button, that also works.
• When you share, please speak from the “I” perspective – that means to share your own personal thoughts, feelings, and observations instead of speaking for someone else.
• Please give everyone a chance to speak if they haven’t yet! Know when to step up versus step back. 
• Respect is really important in this space! Please listen to others when they’re speaking and give them respect even if their views differ from your own.
• Confidentiality is also crucial in this space. Please do not share anyone else’s stories with anyone else. We want to treat honesty as a gift. 
• No thought is too little, small, or insignificant to share! Share anything and everything you are comfortable with.
• Most of what we talk about today stays private. The only time I would have to share something outside this group is if I learn that you or someone else your age might be unsafe, being hurt, or not cared for. If that happens, I’m required to get help from people who can make sure you’re safe.
• [For virtual focus groups]: 
  • You can add thoughts to the chat which we will save at the end.
  • We would really appreciate it if everyone can turn on their cameras to help create a more safe and connected group. 
  • Please don’t text or be on your phone during this focus group! We want everyone to be present with each other.
• You can also choose to leave this focus group at any time.
• Finally, to participate in this focus group, you need to have signed a consent form, and if you are under 18, your parent or guardian also should have signed a consent form. If this isn’t the case, or if you are unsure, unfortunately, we have to ask you to leave the focus group. 
  • Because of this requirement, we are going to take attendance now. Let’s go around in a circle and everyone please share your first and last name. 
  • *Note to Facilitator: Cross-check the names with the list provided to you by Perception Institute & OBI to make sure everyone present has provided forms.

Are there any questions before we start?
 

Facilitator A:

To start, let’s go around the room and have everyone share your name, your age, and any fact about yourself – it doesn’t have to be “fun”. I can start us off. [Facilitator shares name, age, fact]

Facilitator B:

What spaces do you feel like you belong in the most? What about those spaces makes you feel like you belong?

• If more clarity is needed: Are there any groups or places or organizations that you are a part of where you feel comfortable being yourself? You feel like you are included and part of the group, you are considered and heard? Can you point to anything about those groups or spaces that make you feel that way? Is there something about the people? The things you all have in common? The norms or culture of the group? How would you describe it?

Follow up: What kinds of conversations do you have with other people in these spaces?

• If more clarity is needed: What do you talk about? How do the conversations flow? Do people often agree with each other or disagree? 

Facilitator A:

Do you feel a sense of belonging with your family? Why or why not?

• If more clarity is needed: When you are with your family, do you feel like you are seen and heard? Do you feel respected? Do you feel empowered to speak up and share your opinions? Do you feel like you can be yourself? Do you feel stronger belonging with some family members more than others? Why or why not? Are there certain settings or times when you feel more or less belonging with your family? Who do you think of as your family?

Facilitator B:

What personality traits feel most important to how you define yourself? 

• If more clarity is needed: If I were to ask you to pick three adjectives to describe yourself, what would those three be? 

Follow up: Where or with whom would you feel like you fit in more based on these personality traits?

• If more clarity is needed: Do you ever feel like you fit in more or less in certain spaces or with certain people based on these adjectives that describe you?

Facilitator A:

Can you share a time when you didn’t feel like you could be yourself? What was going on in that space?

• If more clarity is needed: Can you think of a recent time when you felt uncomfortable being yourself? Like you were afraid that you might be judged if you were to really express yourself how you wanted? Or you felt like you were pretending to be different from how you are? What about that space made you feel uncomfortable? What was happening that made you think people would judge you if you were to be yourself? 

Facilitator B:

What values are important for you to share with your peers in order to feel a sense of belonging with them?

• If more clarity is needed: What are some values that you hold that are important to you? If some of your peers didn’t share one of those values with you, how would that affect the level of belonging you felt with them? Are there any values that feel more or less important for your peers to have, in order for you to feel comfortable and connected with them?

Facilitator A:

What makes you feel welcomed when you enter a new group or community?

• If more clarity is needed: Can you think of a time you joined a new group, space, or community, and you felt like people wanted you there, and were happy you joined? Where you felt like you were included and welcomed, and people wanted you to keep being part of that group? Can you describe how you felt? What made you feel that way? Why did you feel that way?

Facilitator B:

What’s a question you like to ask people when you first meet them, and why?

• If more clarity is needed: Pretend you’re meeting someone new for the first time and you want to get to know each other. What would you ask them? What else would you ask them? What kind of conversations would you want to have? What topics would you want to talk about? What questions do YOU like being asked?

Facilitator A:

Can you share a time when you were hesitant to be vulnerable, but then felt comfortable opening up? What helped you feel that way?

• If more clarity is needed: Try thinking of a time when you were in a space and you were initially feeling more shy or uncomfortable speaking up or sharing. Maybe you had something that you wanted to say about yourself or your experiences, but you didn’t feel comfortable and you stayed quiet. And then later in the space, you felt more comfortable and the next time you felt like you wanted to share or say something, you actually did. What changed that led you to feel more comfortable?

Facilitator B:

Can you share a time when someone showed curiosity about your perspective? How did that make you feel?

• If more clarity is needed: Think about a time when someone wanted to hear your thoughts, opinions, or perspectives on something. This could be a time when someone reached out to ask how you felt, or a time when you shared something and felt that someone was really interested in what you had to say and wanted to hear more. How did that make you feel? 

Facilitator A:

Are there any other stories or experiences you want to share about belonging that we haven’t talked about yet? 

Facilitator B:

Do you have any questions for us about this focus group?

Thank you so much for your time in this focus group and for sharing your experiences with us. We really appreciate your insights – they will be valuable in our research on belonging among young people. 

If you have any questions, there is contact information on your consent form; please feel free to reach out to Perception and the Othering & Belonging Institute.