Defining School Belonging: A Cross‐Cultural Investigation of Student‐Led Conceptualisations

ABSTRACT School belonging is a construct receiving increasing attention in educational spaces, yet its definition remains contested in the school belonging literature. This study addresses a key gap by exploring how adolescent students from different international settings conceptualise school belonging. A sample of 611 secondary school students from four countries (India, Iran, Australia and Greece), with an average age of 15.6 years, participated in the study. A qualitative research design was employed, using thematic analysis to interpret the data. Four central themes captured student conceptualisations of school belonging: a sense of safety, autonomy with guidance, inclusion and diversity and positive relationships. These themes were consistantacross the multi‐national sample, presenting a student‐led, co‐designed conceptualisation of school belonging. Responding to the limitations of previous definitions that were largely developed in US‐based contexts, this study advancesa student‐informed understanding of school belonging.