Perspectives about Friendships and Acceptance of Socially Excluded Students in Primary Schools: Social inclusion from the eye of the students

In line with the international trend towards inclusive education, the Dutch government implemented the legislation Passend Onderwijs (Education that fits) in 2014. Schools are obliged to educate students with special educational needs (SEN), if the needs of the students can be met, instead of revering them to segregated schools (Wet Passend Onderwijs, 2012). The thought behind this legislation is that with these opportunities, the social inclusion of students with SEN will increase, resulting in more reciprocal friendships and interactions, higher acceptations and positive self-perceptions among the students (Koster, Nakken, Pijl, & van Houten, 2009). However, not all students with SEN benefit automatically from these opportunities (e.g. Ladd, Kochenderfer Ladd, Visconti, & Ettekal, 2012). Especially students with social, emotional problems and behavioral difficulties (SEBD) are not automatically socially included in regular, inclusive education settings (e.g. Guralnick, Neville, Hammond, & Connor, 2007). In the development of the policy Passend Onderwijs and those of other policies, the perspectives of students themselves are often not taken into account. Yet, to effectively address social inclusion, the voices of students, with and without SEBD, should be heard. When addressing social inclusion, students who are experiencing situations such as low social inclusion should be heard (Adderley et al. 2015). The current study aimed to explore the perceptions of socially excluded students, with and without SEBD, regarding the concepts of friendship and acceptance. In total 35 socially excluded students (age range 10 – 13 years) from grade 5 and 6, in regular primary education (N = 14) and special primary education (N = 21), were interviewed with a semi-structured interview protocol addressing topics such as: experiences with social exclusion and their perception of friendships and social acceptance. For the current study a qualitative data analyses (Bazely, 2013) was conducted to explore the transcripts regarding themes of the importance of social acceptance; what social acceptance is; what a friend is and how many friends are needed at school. The preliminary results of the study indicate that despite the inclusion criteria of social exclusion 28 students feel that they are excepted in the classroom. These students all had identified at least to have 1 friend in the classroom. The students described a friend ass a buddy who helps them and with whom they undertake activities in and outside the classroom. Based on the results the importance of having at least one friend in the inclusive classroom is of importance for the perception of being socially accepted. Teachers of inclusive classrooms could stimulate the overall social participation of a student, with or without SEBD, by stimulating the changes to create friendship. When doing so, address the students’ voices and the usage of their own insights when implementing strategies to change the social inclusion of students in the inclusive education settings. References Adderley, R.J., Hope, M.A., Hughes, G.C., Jones, L., Messiou, K. and Shaw, P.A. (2015). Exploring Inclusive Practices in Primary Schools: Focusing on Children’s Voices. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 30(1), 106-121. Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical strategies. Sage. Guralnick, M.J., Neville, B., Hammond, M.A. and Connor, R.T. (2007). The Friendships of Young Children with Developmental Delays: A Longitudinal Analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 28(1), 64-79. Koster, M., Nakken, H., Pijl, S.J. and van Houten, E. (2009). Being Part of the Peer Group: A Literature Study Focusing on the Social Dimension of Inclusion in Education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13(2), 117-140. Ladd, G.W., Kochenderfer Ladd, B., Visconti, K.J. and Ettekal, I. (2012). Classroom Peer Relationships and Children’s Social and Academic Development: Risk Factors and Resources. In Ryan, A. M. and Ladd, G. W. (Eds.), Peer Relationships and Adjustment at School (pp. 11-49). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Wet Passend Onderwijs, 533 (2012). Dutch Appropriate Education Act. Retrieved from http://www.passendonderwijs.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Wet-passend-onderwijs.pdf