The peer relations of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream primary schools: The importance of meaningful contact and interaction with peers

Abstract

Background and aims: Children with special educational needs (SEN) are generally less accepted by peers in school and have fewer friendships than those without SEN. However, little research has examined peer relations across multiple dimensions, relative to severity of need and in relation to classroom experiences and individual behavioural characteristics. This unique study aimed to extend understanding of the peer relations of pupils with differing levels of SEN support relative to children of differing attainment levels without a formally recognised SEN and in relation to levels of social contact in class and teacher ratings of behaviour.Sample: Three hundred and seventy-five 9-11-year-old children recruited from 13 classes in 4 mainstream primary schools in the south of England. Fifty-nine pupils had been identified as having a SEN, of which 17 had a statement of SEN.Method: Pupil sociometric questionnaires provided a range of peer relations measures and the extent of meaningful contact with peers. Pupil behaviour was rated by teachers using the Pupil Behaviour Rating scales. Analyses examined differences in peer relations measures, pupil behaviour and meaningful contact across different levels of educational need.Results: Compared to pupils without SEN, pupils with a statement of SEN had lower levels of peer acceptance, fewer reciprocated friendships, and were less integrated into peer groups. Whilst internalising behaviours, such as social anxiousness and anxiety, and externalising behaviours, such as aggression and hyperactivity, were related to peer relations measures, frequency of meaningful contact with peers was more predictive of peer relations measures than either SEN status or behaviour. Conclusion:Findings point to the crucial role of meaningful social contact in the classroom for children's relationships with peers. The study advances understanding by highlighting that greater opportunity for meaningful social contact may improve social involvement of, as well as enhance academic outcomes for, pupils with SEN educated in mainstream schools.

Bullying in Students with Special Education Needs and Learning Difficulties: The Role of the Student–Teacher Relationship Quality and Students’ Social Status in the Peer Group

“…Research has shown that children with SEN and LD have difficulties in social skills (Freire et al, 2019;Wiener & Schneider, 2002). Compared to their classmates, children with SEN tend to have lower levels of prosocial behaviors (Dasioti & Kolaitis, 2018), are less accepted (Broomhead, 2019) and have fewer or no friends (Banks et al, 2018;Pinto et al, 2019). Also, students with LD present lower friendship quality, higher levels of conflict, more problems with relationship repair, and less stable relationships than their peers (Wiener & Schneider, 2002).…”

“…Challenging aspects of school participation and inclusion of children with SEN and LD (Broomhead, 2019;Freire et al, 2019;Pinto et al, 2019) might expose these students as at risk of bullying. To the best of our knowledge, research on bullying in children with SEN and LD and its association with both the relationship with the teacher and students' social status in the peer group are scarce.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, research on bullying in children with SEN and LD and its association with both the relationship with the teacher and students' social status in the peer group are scarce. Studies on school inclusion of students with SEN and LD are mainly focused on single variables, such as their relationships with teachers (Freire et al, 2019;Pasta et al, 2013) or peers (Boyes et al, 2020;Pinto et al, 2019).…”

A Cooperative Learning Intervention to Promote Social Inclusion in Heterogeneous Classrooms

“…Such factors include peer attitudes (de Boer et al, 2013), classroom norms (Gasser et al, 2017(Gasser et al, , 2018, and lack of teacher support (Mikami et al, 2013). From this perspective, it is important to provide opportunities for meaningful peer contacts (Grütter et al, 2018;Pinto et al, 2019). Moreover, teachers may need to address peer attitudes and friendships by creating inclusive classroom norms, modeling positive peer relationships, and giving children positive feedback (Mikami et al, 2013;Huber et al, 2018).…”

An Inclusive View of the Disability of Secondary School Students

“…In the same way, they show the relevance of different factors like the family context that acts positively when there is good communication between the members of the family [40] and/or the school context in which the cohesion of the class group influences the development of prosocial behaviours [41]. On the other hand, the study carried out by Pinto, Baines and Bakopoulou [42] determines that the development of contact between students with and without SEN favours the appearance of inclusive behaviours, so there could be a link between prosocial behaviours and this. However, there are no previous studies in which this relationship has been considered directly and from the perspective of students.…”