Building Belonging: How Schools can Facilitate Young Asylum Seekers' Adaptation to Trauma

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Young Asylum seekers (YAS) report of experiences with trauma that make coping in the host country a lotharder. These experiences are often understood through a Western medical model which reducesunderstanding of trauma to the symptoms it produces, in turn, translating into individualisedinterventions . However, this project will aim to sit within a broader literature that directs attentiontoward factors within the post-migration context which shape how trauma may be experienced. Thiswider lens offers a more holistic and culturally sensitive way to support YAS.School belonging represents an important construct to consider for YAS; having a sense of belonging toschool is protective against a range of adverse outcomes associated with trauma. School belonging isbroadly defined as feeling accepted, respected, included and supported by others (Goodenow & Grady,1993). Key themes have been identified across the literature which represent important goals for schoolsto aim for in order to increase belonging. For example, changing pedagogy, increasing understanding ofcultural diversity, changing wider school attitudes toward integration, and identifying the educationalneeds of asylum seekers more holistically. However, as goals, the steps to translate these into practiseand policy are more under-researched. The aim of this project is to understand how we can moreprecisely define these steps so that we can best support YAS in their adaptation to trauma.