Mapping Belonging in Inclusive French Immersion Classrooms in Canada

Abstract

In inclusive classrooms, participation is often documented through adult reports, service plans, or behavioural observations. This study asks what becomes visible when children map participation for themselves. Using qualitative visual inquiry, we analyzed 118 participatory maps and accompanying micro-narratives produced by 7- and 8-year-old children in six Grade 2 and Grade 3 French immersion classrooms across two public schools in Winnipeg, Canada. The corpus included whole classroom communities with overlapping support profiles, including autism, ADHD, significant learning difficulties, and behavioural or social-emotional concerns. Visual coding, reflexive thematic analysis, and descriptive patterning generated four constructs: refuge as regulated participation, voice gradients in a second-language ecology, rough temporalities and transition strain, and cartographic agency through child-led redesign. Refuge spaces appeared in 54 maps, voice or silence markers in 82, transition-related motifs in 68, and redesign proposals in 51. Findings show that children experienced inclusion not as placement, but as an ecological fit among space, rhythm, sensory demand, relationship, and language. The study positions French as part of the occupational environment and presents participatory mapping as a practical tool for school-based occupational therapy, teacher collaboration, and inclusive classroom design. It also foregrounds children as credible designers of the conditions that support belonging.