Experiences of School Belonging for Young Children With Refugee Backgrounds

Abstract

Previous research with adolescents with refugee backgrounds living in countries of resettlement has found that school belonging impacts upon a range of wellbeing and developmental outcomes, including mental health, peer relationships, self esteem and self efficacy, and academic achievement.However, very little research has explored school belonging in younger children with refugee backgrounds (that is, less than 13 years of age). In this paper, we report on a participatory research project concerning the experiences and understandings of school belonging with 15 children with refugee backgrounds (aged five to 13 years old), who had been living in This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of a paper published in the Educational and Developmental Psychologist Copyright Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/edp.2016.9Australia for less than 12 months. The research aimed to explore experiences of school and school belonging from the perspective of children, and utilized photo elicitation techniques. The study found that refugee children were able to create a sense of school belonging through aspects of the school environment that reflected their identity and values, and through their relationships with their peers and teachers. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of ensuring that schools create spaces for refugee students to demonstrate their knowledge, values and skills at school, and to ensure that strategies to promote school belonging in refugee students take into account their experiences and identity. IntroductionIn 2015, the office for the United National High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that there were nearly 20 million refugees world--wide, over half of whom were under 18. This is the highest number of refugees since World War II (UNHCR, 2015). While only a proportion of these young people and their families will be moved to a resettlement country, it is nevertheless vitally important that resettlement countries have an evidence base upon which to draw when providing settlement services and support to young people with refugee backgrounds. This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of a paper published in the Educational and Developmental Psychologist Copyright Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/edp.2016.9In resettlement countries such as Australia, school is one of the primary places where newly arrived refugee students will connect with their community, build relationships, and establish a sense of belonging in their new country (Woods, 2009;Matthews, 2008; Correa--Velez, Gifford, & Barnett, 2010;Mace, Mulheron, Jones, & Cherian, 2014;de Heer, Due, & Riggs, 2016). As such, school belonging plays a crucial role in establishing a sense of social inclusion, positive wellbeing and the development of peer relationships for refugee young people from the beginning of their resettlement (Correa--Velez, et al., 2010;de Heer, et al., 2016; Woods, 2009).However, while there is a body of research that has explored school belonging in adolescents in general (Van Ryzin, Gravely, & Roseth, 20...

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