School Loneliness Among Syrian Refugee Children in Turkey

A Phenomenological Study

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21446096
Autoresİbrahim Halil Yilmaz (0000-0002-0769-7336, Institute for Migration, Gaziantep University Gaziantep Türkiye, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume60
Fascículo3
Data de publicação2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEuropean Journal of Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0141-8211 • E-ISSN: 1465-3435
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ejed.70198
OpenAlexW4413308761
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas63

This phenomenological study investigated Syrian refugee children's experiences of loneliness in Turkish primary schools through Max van Manen's existential framework—lived space, body, time and others. Data were collected via semi‐structured interviews with 14 children aged 9–12 and 6 weeks of classroom observation in a public school in Ankara. Thematic analysis, using Saldana's coding techniques, revealed that loneliness was not merely emotional but experienced spatially through marginalisation, bodily via self‐critique, temporally as disrupted continuity and relationally through limited peer and teacher connections. Language barriers, peer exclusion and lack of teacher support were key contributors to emotional isolation. The study calls for culturally responsive pedagogy, inclusive peer practices and affective support systems to foster belonging. Theoretically, it extends van Manen's existential lens into the domain of forced displacement, offering a novel interpretation of refugee childhood loneliness as a multidimensional, lived phenomenon. This approach makes an original contribution to both migration studies and existential phenomenology

Developmental psychology · Immigration · Loneliness · Political science · Refugee · Syrian refugees · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social Psychology