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This article examines how Syrian refugee children in Greater Glasgow experience belonging through friendship and participation in peer cultures at school. Drawing on family-based case studies, the study foregrounds children’s voices to explore how everyday peer interactions, including play, collaboration and language support, shape their social, emotional and educational engagements. Analysis is organised around four interrelated themes: language barriers and peer support; friendship as a gateway to academic engagement; negotiating diversity and belonging; and bullying and peer protection. Findings reveal that friendships operate as pedagogical spaces where children co-construct norms, negotiate inclusion, and develop trust, care and reciprocity. Friendship emerges as a central mechanism through which belonging is experienced, taught, and practiced, rather than as a peripheral social outcome. The study contributes to debates on relational pedagogy and inclusive education, emphasising that schools must recognise peer cultures as key sites for supporting refugee children’s well-being, agency, and integration into school communities.
Nouraldeen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.