A Psychocultural Model of School Belonging Among Ethnic Minority Secondary Students Across Nigerian Geopolitical Zones

This study develops and tests a psychocultural model of school belonging among ethnic minority secondary school students across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, addressing the absence of a theoretically grounded, empirically validated model of school belonging that accounts for Nigeria's complex multi-ethnic social fabric. School belonging, recognised as a fundamental psychological need in educational contexts, is inevitably shaped by cultural congruence, ethnic identity, and minority-majority social dynamics that existing Western models do not adequately capture. The study employs a multi-site, multi-method longitudinal design involving 600 self-identified ethnic minority secondary school students from twelve states across the six zones over two academic years. Ethnic identity, cultural congruence with school environment, perceived ethnic discrimination, social integration, and school belonging were assessed using validated and adapted instruments at two time points. Structural equation modelling, configural and metric invariance testing across zones, and latent change score analysis constitute the analytic framework. Qualitative narrative interviews with 60 participants provide depth and cultural texture to the quantitative findings. Results support a psychocultural model in which ethnic identity salience moderates the relationship between perceived cultural congruence and school belonging, with cross-zone variation in the strength of this moderation reflecting regional differences in ethnic minority dynamics. The model demonstrates longitudinal predictive validity for academic engagement and retention intention. This study contributes an original psychocultural theoretical extension to school belonging research in multi-ethnic African educational contexts. Keywords: school belonging, ethnic minority, psychocultural model, multi-ethnic, Nigeria.