Inclusive education gains to facilitate social participation of all students including those with special educational needs (SEN) (de Boer 2012). Nevertheless, national as well as international research shows that students with SEN are being rejected more often and are less often chosen as friends compared to students without SEN (Boessart et al., 2011). Also the wellbeing of students with SEN has been reported to be lower compared to students without SEN. Although less pronounced, a similar difference has been found in a longitudinal study at the Laboratory School Bielefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This inclusive school has a program inspired by the ideas of progressive education as well as the work of John Dewey and is focussing on students´ wellbeing and participation for more than 40 years (WILS-Study: Wellbeing and Inclusion at the Laboratory School Bielefeld – a Self Reflexion, Kullmann et al., in press). The paper to be presented is also part of the WILS-study and focuses on the perspective of students with SEN themselves. 10 students with SEN from the 10th and 8th grade were interviewed and gave deep insights into their experiences with teachers and peers through their entire school biography. The students reported on their own school-related wellbeing (Pijl & Frostad, 2010) on the one hand and the inclusive school cultures, structures and practices (Booth & Ainscow 2011) on the other hand. The interviews were evaluated with structuring qualitative content analyses followed by a cross case evaluation (Kelle & Klein 2010). Findings suggest that opportunities for social participation are being offered and used on different levels of school structures (i.e. pupils parliament, choices of supporting teachers, emphasize on community-based activities), teaching cultures (i.e. high level of individualization, choices of subjects) and interpersonal relationships (peers, teachers). However, systematical restrictions can also be identified, e.g. concerning some teaching strategies and feelings of being overburdened in higher classes. Possible explanations and implications of the findings will be discussed.

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