School peer relationships of ‘minority’ children in Scotland

Abstract

This paper examines selected issues arising from two studies in mainstream education of two minority groupings of children in Scotland-those with serious medical conditions and refugee children-completed in 1997 and 1999, respectively. It draws on first-person accounts of children, parents and teachers and focuses on school-based peer relationships, including friendships. Many of the described peer experiences were unhappy or mixed, only a minority were positive. The paper relates the research and its findings to current social and educational policy contexts and to theories on peer relationships, friendship and rejection. It challenges the problematizing of groups or individuals with minority experiences and school staff's acceptance of inevitable difficulty in these children's peer relationships. It hypothesizes that ways of developing all children's peer relationships need to be addressed in schools if the well-being of children who may be socially vulnerable is to be improved.

En/countering disablement in school life in Australia: children talk about peer relations and living with illness and disability

“…According to French and Swain (2004), the voices of disabled people in these accounts of inclusion and special education are slowly becoming more prominent. When children's voices are heard, they frequently tell a story of marginalisation, being left out or denied 'ordinary' educational experiences (for example, Closs et al 2001;French and Swain 2004;Lightfoot, Wright, and Sloper 1999;Shakespeare, Priestley, and Barnes, n.d.).…”

“…Lightfoot, Wright, and Sloper (1999) reported that adolescents with chronic health conditions also experienced social isolation, exclusion from peer activities, and felt 'different' in classroom activities. Closs et al (2001) suggested that the discriminatory attitudes and expectancies of other children in schools lead to stigmatisation and marginalisation in the school social context. Yet this research also highlights variation in individual experiences of inclusion and exclusion.…”

Health‐related quality of life in Icelandic school children

“…In an Icelandic study on children's friendship(s), most children in fifth through seventh grade (67%) found themselves to have many friends at school (14). Children with a chronic health condition, like medical conditions (15) and autism (16) have been found to have poorer quality of friendship(s) than children without chronic health conditions. No study was found that evaluated the relationship between friendships and QOL among school‐age children.…”

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“…2003). Furthermore, experiences of violence and persecution may lead to difficulties with identity and integration in the new country (Closs et al . 2001; Fantino & Colak 2001).…”