Trajectories of Social Functioning Among Students With and Without Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Educational Settings

• In Event: 31.082 - Escúchame! Listen to Me! Exploring Underserved Students' Voice Through Innovative and Participatory Research Designs

Abstract

The present study sought to elicit the social experiences of students with learning disabilities in regular education settings from middle childhood to early adolescence. The research focus was placed on the students’ perceived understanding of the peer acceptance they enjoyed within their class network, their perceptions of the quality of their best friendship and their subjective sense of school belonging.

Recent research focusing on social participation has consistently reported that students with learning disabilities are less accepted and more rejected by their typically achieving classmates, they tend to occupy a less favorable social position in their class network, they have fewer friendships and generally experience more social difficulties than their average-to-high-achieving peers. Nevertheless, they do manage to participate in peer groups and develop some friendships. The ways in which they manage to overcome their social marginalization remains largely an under-researched topic. It is this gap in the literature that the present study sought to fill.

Following a sociometric assessment and the establishment of different types of sociometric status of the participating students, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were guided by a schedule containing questions relating to the students’ social participation with a particular emphasis on their perceptions of best friend quality and various aspects of school belonging.

Participants were 20 students with learning disabilities educated in regular secondary settings who held different levels of social status. Interviews were also conducted with forty typically achieving peers drawn from the same classes and experiencing similar levels of peer acceptance with a view of contrasting their accounts with the ones of the target group.

Thematic analysis was performed involving the systematic coding of the data and the emergence of thematic categories. In line with previous research efforts, the students with learning disabilities were found to enjoy reduced peer-acceptance and experience social marginalisation. The transition from elementary to high schools had proved particularly challenging for them. Nevertheless, they reported some positive perceptions of their friendships which had been largely established outside the school. In this respect, friendship quality emerged as a key factor affecting the pupils’ social development. These results emerged for the typically achieving students too.

The evidence reported indicated that students with learning disabilities of variable social status were similar to their corresponding typically achieving peers in terms of group functioning and characteristics. Whereas their social standing among their classmates was low, they had managed to overcome their marginalization by establishing friendships in out-of school activities. The paper concludes with outlining the importance of supporting the students’ socio-emotional development through implementing relevant school-based interventions.

Author

• Elias Avramidis, University of Thessaly