Previous research has repeatedly confirmed that students with special educational needs (SEN) are generally less accepted by their peers. Although inclusive teaching strategies and classroom characteristics are frequently hypothesised to improve students' social participation, empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate classroom characteristics and teaching practices that can help foster social participation, in general, and reduce the effect of lower social participation among students with SEN, in particular. The sample includes 518 students in 31 Grade 4 and 7 classes from Austria, of whom 99 are students with SEN. The results show that students with SEN receive fewer peer nominations and perceive their social participation to be lower compared to their peers without SEN. However, the association between SEN and self-perceived social participation is moderated by the social classroom climate, i.e. the difference becomes smaller when the social classroom climate is more positive. Furthermore, the higher the personalised instruction was rated by a student, the higher was his or her social status. The results suggest that interventions should focus not only on the improvement of individual students (with SEN) but also on changing the whole classroom environment.

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Over the last two decades, the nature of teachers' work has undergone significant structural changes due to political, social, organizational, technological, and philosophical factors. With the development of inclusive policies, the roles and functions of special education teachers (SETs) have evolved over the years. Inclusive work in general classrooms is often seen as a source of stress for SETs as they may have less autonomy at work, and more complex collaboration than their peers working in special classes. This stress can lead to a burnout syndrome, which is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a lack of personal accomplishment. Less is known about the effects of teaching contexts on the SETs’ health. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the perceived health of a sample of SETs in Switzerland (N = 306) working in inclusive contexts (n = 79) with those working in non-inclusive contexts (n = 227). The sample filled out a self-reported questionnaire measuring personal variables, burnout at work with the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and collaborative variables with the School Quality Survey. Research results show three main findings. 1. Differences in perceived health at work are not significant between the two subgroups. 2. The two subsamples are not exhausted or depersonalized, but present a reduced personal achievement. 3. The collaboration-related variables exert different effects on the three burnout dimensions.