Subjective School Wellbeing of Refugee and Local Children: Voices From Having, Loving, and Being Dimensions

Abstract

The influx of refugees has drastically changed the ethnic composition of early childhood education system in Turkey, especially in provinces where refugees are resettled. Given this change, how refugee and local children are functioning with their wellbeing at school remains an underexplored yet an important area of research. This single case study conducted at multiple sites aimed to examine subjective school wellbeing among Syrian refugee and Turkish local children in public primary schools. Situated within school wellbeing model and ecological systems theory, the study investigated both groups of children’s contextually bounded realities and experiences in their shared school environments. Utilizing child-centred visual elicitation methods and participatory research techniques with 10 children at two schools, the study foregrounded children’s subjective voices with respect to indicators of wellbeing at school. Children conceptualized their school wellbeing in having, loving, and being dimensions, along with a variety of subjective indicators associated with each dimension. School wellbeing was not exclusively related to conditions and relations at school level. Rather, home- and neighbourhood-level indicators in proximal environments, as well as policies and societal regulations in distal environments, converged to influence their wellbeing at school. Relevant implications for policy and practice are discussed.