Migrant Students' Sense of Belonging and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Educational Inclusion
: Szelei, Nikolett; Devlieger, Ines; Verelst, An; Spaas, Caroline; Jervelund, Signe Smith; Primdahl, Nina Langer; Skovdal, Morten; Opaas, Marianne; Durbeej, Natalie; Osman, Fatumo; Soye, Emma; Colpin, Hilde; De Haene, Lucia; Aalto, Sanni; Kankaanpaa, Reeta; Peltonen, Kirsi; Andersen, Arnfinn J.; Hilden, Per Kristian; Watters, Charles; Derluyn, Ilse
Publisher: COGITATIO PRESS
: LISBON
: 2022
Social Inclusion
: SOCIAL INCLUSION
: SOC INCL
: 10
: 2
: 172
: 184
: 13
: 2183-2803
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v10i2.5106
: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v10i2.5106
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499509697
This article investigates school belonging among migrant students and how this changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 751 migrant students in secondary schools in six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK), we examined the impact of Covid-19 school closures, social support, and post-traumatic stress symptoms on changes in school belonging. Linear regression showed a non-significant decrease in school belonging, and none of the studied variables had a significant effect on this change in our whole sample. However, sensitivity analysis on a subsample from three countries (Denmark, Finland, and the UK) showed a small but significant negative effect of increasing post-traumatic stress symptoms on school belonging during Covid-19 school closures. Given that scholarship on school belonging during Covid-19 is emergent, this study delineates some key areas for future research on the relationship between wellbeing, school belonging, and inclusion.
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This article is an outcome of the RefugeesWellSchool project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 754849.
