Social participation and friendship quality of students with special educational needs in regular Greek primary schools

Abstract

The study addresses the social participation of integrated students with special educational needs (SEN) in upper primary regular classes in Greece alongside their perceptions of best friend quality. In keeping with previous research, social participation was defined as consisting of four key dimensions, namely the students' acceptance by classmates; their friendships; their social self-perceptions; and their social interactions. Participants were 457 students with a mean age of 11.04 (sd=.83), of which 45 were diagnosed as having moderate learning difficulties and 412 were typically developing students. Fieldwork involved implementing a sociometric technique, conducting systematic observations and administering two psychometric instruments: the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS). In line with previous studies, students with SEN received fewer nominations of peer acceptance, had fewer friends and had fewer social interactions with classmates than their typically developing peers. The social self-perception and the perceptions of friendship quality of both groups of students did not differ. Contrary to expectations, the students with SEN's social self-concept was not related to their acceptance by peers but it was positively related to the 'companionship' dimension of friendship quality. These results highlight the need to direct the researchers' attention from measuring the social participation of students with SEN within their class network towards examining the quality and durability of their friendships.

Do learners with special education needs really feel included? Evidence from the Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

“…They may face greater prejudice (Avramidis, 2010) and bullying (Rose, Monda-Amaya, & Espelage, 2010), and are at a greater risk to feel excluded at schools (Grütter et al, 2017;Schwab et al, 2013;Schwab, INCLUSION AND DIFFICULTIES IN INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS 6 2017). Recent large-scale studies found that students with SEN felt less included at school (Stiefel, Shiferaw, Schwartz, & Gottfried, 2017) and that they had fewer friends and experienced negative peer relationships than other students (Avramidis, Avgeri, & Strogilos, 2018;Banks et al, 2017;Huber, Gerullis, Gebhardt, & Schwab, 2018). A lack of inclusion is also related to many negative emotional-developmental outcomes, including depression, (McGraw, Moore, Fuller, & Bates, 2008), substance abuse, and other mental health problems (Arslan, 2018;Bond et al, 2007), as well as poorer academic outcomes (Szumski & Karwowski, 2015;van Ryzin, Gravely, & Roseth, 2009) such as a reduced academic selfconcept (Bear, Minke, & Manning, 2002).…”

Peer acceptance and peer status in relation to students’ special educational needs, migration biography, gender and socio‐economic status

“…However, especially for the investigation of the social dimension of inclusion, a broader view with which to examine this topic is required. Aside from SEN (e.g., Avramidis, Avgeri, and Strogilos, 2018; Schwab, 2015b, 2016), gender differences (e.g., Ato, Galián, and Fernández‐Vilar, 2014) or a migrant biography (Graham, Taylor, and Ho, 2009; Hamel, Schwab, and Wahl, 2021, 2022; Krull, Wilbert, and Hennemann, 2018) have been proposed as crucial factors that have a negative impact on students’ social participation.…”

“…Across all these dimensions, the lack of social participation amongst students with SEN has been repeatedly reported. Students with SEN have been found to have fewer friends than their classmates without SEN (Avramidis, Avgeri, and Strogilos, 2018; Bossaert et al., 2015; Frostad, Mjaavatn, and Pijl, 2011; Schwab, 2015a, b). Similar negative outcomes for students with SEN have been found in relation to the perceived quality of friendships (Hoffmann et al., 2020; Locke et al., 2010).…”

“…One of the most studied dimensions of assessing social participation is the social acceptance of students with and without SEN. Numerous studies have reported that in regular schools, students with SEN are less accepted than their classmates without SEN (e.g., Avramidis, 2013; Avramidis, Avgeri, and Strogilos, 2018; Bossaert et al., 2013; Garrote, 2016; Grütter, Meyer, and Glenz, 2015; Huber, 2008; Huber and Wilbert, 2012; Krull, Wilbert, and Hennemann, 2014, 2018; Nepi et al., 2015; Schwab, 2015b). These results tend to be stable over time (Frederickson and Furnham, 2001; Kuhne and Wiener, 2000; Nowicki, 2003).…”

Peer relationships of students with intellectual disabilities in special needs classrooms – a systematic review

“…However, peer relationships also depend on the school peer context. Research on inclusive classrooms suggests that individuals with ID are often less well accepted, interact less with others and have fewer friends compared to their typically developing classmates (Avramidis, Avgeri and Strogilos, ; Tipton et al, ). However, not all students with ID attend inclusive classrooms; a substantial number attend special needs classrooms where all peers in the classrooms exhibit difficulties in intellect and adaptive behaviours.…”