Evaluating social participation and friendships of pupils with special needs in regular primary schools

Author(s):

Marloes Koster

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

4. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 01 B, Who's in and who's out? Friendships and inclusive education

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-28

09:15-10:45

Room:

NIG, HS B

Chair:

Michael Shevlin

Contribution

The establishment of friendships between pupils with special needs and their typical peers is a major outcome of inclusive education (Flem & Keller, 2000; Haring & Breen, 1992; Pijl, Frostad & Flem, 2008; Sloper & Tyler, 1992). However, research has shown that building positive relations with classmates can be difficult for pupils with special needs (De Monchy, Pijl & Zandberg, 2004; Guralnick, Hammond, Connor & Neville, 2006; Guralnick, Neville, Hammond & Connor, 2007; Lee, Yoo & Bak, 2003). This is worrisome, all the more because being isolated in the class might negatively influence the functioning of a pupil in different areas (Bagwell, Newcomb & Bukowski, 1998; Nelson, Rubin & Fox, 2005; Parker & Asher, 1987). Because of the possible negative effects of lacking friends, it is important to monitor the friendships and contacts of pupils with special needs in regular classrooms. Teachers can have an important role in the monitoring process, as they should be the first ones to notice if a pupil becomes isolated (De Monchy et al., 2004). Koster, Nakken, Pijl and Van Houten (2009) decided to develop a questionnaire to help teachers assessing the social participation of pupils with special needs. At first, on the basis of an exploration of literature a provisional description of social participation was formulated. Four key themes are central in this description: - Friendships / relationships - Interactions / contacts - Acceptance by classmates - Social self-perception of pupil (Koster et al., 2009) Subsequently, also on the basis of the analysis of literature, a teacher questionnaire was composed (Koster, Nakken, Pijl, Van Houten & Lutje Spelberg, 2008). With this questionnaire, named Social Participation Questionnaire, teachers can assess the social participation of their pupils. The questionnaire, consisting of 24 statements, is divided into four subscales, which represent the four key themes of social participation. The first part of this study addresses the convergent validity of the ‘Friendships/relationships’ subscale. In the second part of the study, the dyadic friendships and friendship networks of pupils with and without special needs in regular Dutch primary classrooms are examined.

Method

In 105 Dutch school classes with one or more pupils with special needs (Grades 1-3), the teachers filled in the Social Participation Questionnaire for the pupil(s) with special needs and for two typical classmates. In order to examine the convergent validity of the 'Friendships/relationships' subscale, the scores of pupils on this subscale were compared with an external criterion, namely their number of friendships in the classroom. All pupils in the 105 classes were asked which classmates they considered to be their best friends. Friendship was defined as a reciprocal choice, implying that two pupils choose each other as their best friend. The number of friendships was expected to correlate positively with pupils’ score on the ‘Friendships/relationships’ subscale. Subsequently, the number of friendships was expected to show a stronger correlation with the ‘Friendships/relationships’ subscale than with the other subscales of the questionnaire.

Expected Outcomes

In the first part of the study the reliability and convergent validity of the ‘Friendships/relationships’ subscale were found to be acceptable. The results showed that, by means of this subscale, teachers are capable of making appropriate assessments of the friendships of their pupils. The outcomes of the second part of the study revealed that on average, pupils with special needs have a significantly lower number of friends compared to their typical peers. In addition, they are less often a member of a group of friends. A comparison between pupils with different categories of special needs revealed that pupils with speech language disabilities have the highest mean number of friends and are most often a member of a group of friends. Pupils with intellectual disabilities have the lowest number of friends and least often belong to a group of friends. Further research into differences between categories of disabilities is recommended.

References

Bagwell, C.L., Newcomb, A.F. & Bukowski, W.M. (1998). Preadolescent friendship and peer rejection as predictors of adult adjustment. Child Development, 69, 140-153. De Monchy, M., Pijl, S.J. & Zandberg, T.J. (2004). Discrepancies in judging social inclusion and bullying of pupils with behaviour problems. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 19(3), 317-330. Flem, A. and Keller, C. (2000) Inclusion in Norway: a study of ideology in practice, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 15(2), 188-205. Guralnick, M.J., Hammond, M.A., Connor, R.T. & Neville, B. (2006). Stability, change, and correlates of the peer relationships of young children with mild developmental delays. Child Development, 77(2), 312-324. Guralnick, M.J., Neville, B., Hammond, M.A. & Connor, R.T. (2007). The friendships of young children with developmental delays. A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 28, 64-79. Haring, T.G. & Breen, C.G. (1992). A peer-mediated social network intervention to enhance the social the social integration of person with moderate and severe disabilities. Journal of applied behavioral analysis, 25, 2, 319-333. Koster, M., Nakken, H., Pijl, S.J. & Van Houten, E.J. (2009). Being part of the peer group: a literature study focusing on the social dimension of inclusion in education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13(2), page numbers unknown. Koster, M., Nakken, H., Pijl, S.J., Van Houten, E.J. & Lutje Spelberg, H.C. (2008). Assessing social participation of pupils with special needs in inclusive education: the construction of a teacher questionnaire. Educational Research and Evaluation, 15(4), 395-409. Larrivee, B. & Horne, M. D. (1991) Social status: a comparison of mainstreamed students with peers of different ability levels. The Journal of Special Education, 25(1), 90-101. Lee, S.H., Yoo, S.Y. & Bak, S.H. (2003). Characteristics of friendships between children with and without disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 38(2), 157-166. Nelson, L.J., Rubin, K.H. & Fox, N.A. (2005). Social withdrawal, observed peer acceptance, and the development of self-perceptions in children ages 4 to 7 years. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20, 185-200. Parker, J.G. & Asher, S.R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611-621. Parker, J.G. & Asher, S.R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102, 357-389. Pijl, S.J., Frostad, P. & Flem, A. (2008). The social position of pupils with special needs in regular schools. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52, 387-405. Sloper, T. & Tyler, S. (1992) Integration of children with severe learning difficulties in mainstream schools: evaluation of a pilot study, Educational and Child Psychology, 9(4), 35-45.

Author Information

Marloes Koster

University of Groningen

Department of Special Education

Groningen

157

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