School belonging in the preschool period: school counsellors’ views and documented institutional practices

BACKGROUND: School belonging is a key protective factor for socioemotional functioning during the preschool period. Counsellors working in preschool institutions play an important role in developing sense of school belonging by meeting their emotional and social needs and fostering a positive school environment. This study examined the views of school counsellors working in preschool education institutions in Türkiye regarding sense of school belonging and, to support these views and to reveal their reflection at the level of institutional practice, analysed routine guidance and counselling documents to identify how belonging-supportive practices are formally planned, implemented, and recorded over the school year. METHODS: A phenomenological qualitative design was employed. Data were collected through structured interviews with school counsellors and complemented by document analysis of counselling artefacts to examine how belonging practices are formally planned, implemented, and documented across the school year. The document corpus comprised 186 written artefacts from 10 kindergartens. Data were analysed using computer-aided content analysis, and a hierarchical code-subcode model was utilised in MAXQDA 2020. RESULTS: Findings indicated that counsellors conceptualised school belonging as children's feelings of acceptance and security within the school community and described belonging-related differences in children's emotions, participation, and peer interactions. Counsellors also highlighted multi-level strategies targeting emotional safety, peer relationships, teacher practices, and family involvement. Complementing these findings, the document analysis yielded five practice-oriented domains through which counselling services may support school belonging: (1) emotional safety and adjustment to school routines, (2) support for peer relationships and social problem-solving, (3) cultivation of a positive classroom/school climate through teacher collaboration, (4) systematic family involvement and parent education, and (5) developmental monitoring and evaluation. Document analysis corroborated counsellors' reported perspectives by providing practice-level evidence of how belonging-supportive strategies were formally embedded in institutional plans and documented in artefacts. CONCLUSIONS: Preschool children's school belonging is supported through a year-long programme of practice spanning children, teachers, and families. Strengthening preventive counselling services that promote emotional safety, peer-inclusion, and family-school collaboration may improve school belonging in early childhood, as this phenomenon has far-reaching implications for children's educational trajectories, working lives, and broader societal and democratic engagement.