Disentangling the transnational belongingness of children in and beyond a Danish school

The aim of this study is to unravel the multifaceted sentiments of belonging which children who are born in Denmark but whose parents have direct personal experiences of transnational migration can have within and beyond the Danish comprehensive public school system. The empirical basis of the study stems from fieldwork at one school in Denmark and consists primarily of interviews with children (n = 19). This study shows how language, religion, and the countries of birth of the children’s parents play very different roles in the children’s narratives of belonging, which, in turn, indicate that the school to varying degrees accommodates the transnational aspects of children’s lives according to how well they fit into the ‘Danishness’ that the school prescribes. The paper concludes by considering ways forward to better understand and counteract tendencies towards alienation, which schools’ handling of the transnational aspects of children’s lives might entail.