How may we understand the experiences of school belonging amongst students with refugee backgrounds?

Abstract

Sense of belonging has been highlighted as a key factor in supporting refugee children in the post-migration phase. In the systematic literature review, I explored factors that contribute to a sense of belonging among refugee students in schools. This qualitative review was conducted using thematic synthesis. This process generated four main themes: meaningful contribution, positive and consistent relationships, emotionally safe classroom and acquiring new language as factors contributing to the sense of belonging of refugee students in schools. The need for further research to explore the sense of school belonging of refugee students within the UK is highlighted. The bridging document explored aspects of the research, such as my rationale for choosing the topic area. This section also provided a link between the systematic literature review and the empirical study. In this, I discussed my philosophical stance, methodological decisions and ethical considerations. The aim of the empirical research project was to explore the experience of school belonging amongst secondary school refugee students in the Northeast of England (NE). This study draws upon the Bio-Psycho-Socio-Ecological Model (BPSEM) of school belonging, which understands the sense of belonging not as an individual attribute but as a result of complex interacting factors. Due to the focus on subjective experiences, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was utilised. Seven refugee students were interviewed using a semi-structured interview about their experience of school belonging in the NE via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. The questions were underpinned by the theoretical understanding of school belonging from literature and four main themes were developed from the data: agency, participation, safety, and separation. The themes were discussed in terms of barriers and supporting factors to participants’ school belonging in the NE. Also, findings were considered in light of relevant literature and the BPSEM. Both draw attention to the need to consider this issue within school systems and inform how Educational Psychologists might work within school systems to enable factors that support the school belonging of refugee students.