Mapping Anti-Refugee Attitude Networks in the Classroom: Examining the Relationship Between Migrant Children’s Attitude Alignment and National Identification

Irish schools have been rapidly diversifying since the early 2000s. As increased diversity often leads to increased prejudicial attitudes, children with migration backgrounds may struggle to gain acceptance and a sense of belonging as Irish. There are several strategies migrant children may take in response to prejudicial attitudes they perceive in their classroom, including adopting prejudicial attitudes toward other migrant groups–such as refugees–to align with the majority, or distancing themselves from the negative attitudes of the majority at the expense of national identification. We examine these strategies using a novel network method which identifies the positions of each child in relation to others in their classroom based on their attitude similarity. The study uses data from 54 primary school classes (N = 969 children). We find that migrant children were not identifiable by distinct patterns of anti-refugee attitudes compared to those of Irish national children. National identification was not related to the alignment of attitudes to Irish peers. Alignment of attitudes toward one’s classmates, however, was associated with higher identification with the class, for both migrant and non-migrant children. These findings highlight the class context as a relevant environment in which attitudes and identity are jointly navigated.