Distance learning during the pandemic and the sense of school belonging in students with chronic medical conditions

Having a chronic condition requires a student to be absent from school for medium to long periods (Lombaert et al., 2006; Zhu & Van Winkel, 2014). Sometimes this leads hospitalized children to perceive a sense of distance from their class group: students may feel absent in their class stories and may feel forgotten by their classmates (Tomberli & Ciucci, 2021). The literature has shown how feeling part of the school context ‒ the socalled “Sense of school belonging” (Gowing, 2016; Gowing, 2019) ‒ is important for good child/adolescent development. High levels of a sense of school belonging favor less stress, anxiety, and depression in hospitalized students. This work explores the resources and criticalities of using distance learning (DL) with students hospitalized for chronic diseases during the pandemic.