2-090 - Classroom Peer Environment Effects on the Social Situation of Students With Special Educational Needs

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Recent research on classroom environment effects highlights the importance of classmates in the social development of children and adolescents (Cappella & Hwang, 2015). For example, the characteristics of the peer classroom context influence students’ behavioral development and their social status (e.g., Boor-Klip et al., 2018; Mercer et al., 2009). However, little is known about classroom environment effects on students with special educational needs (SEN). This student group is often characterized by learning difficulties and social adjustment issues that may lead to differential peer processes. Increased knowledge could generate important insights regarding possible approaches for fostering the social development of students with SEN in the classroom context. This symposium includes four studies from four different countries that provide new evidence on this topic.
Paper 1 demonstrates that students with clinically relevant levels of antisocial behavior are more susceptible to their classmates’ levels of aggression than students with less antisocial behavior. Paper 2 examines the effects of different types of classroom norms on the level of aggressive behavior exhibited by students with disabilities. Paper 3 sheds light on the ways in which classroom behavioral norms moderate associations between individual problem behaviors and future social status in special needs schools. Paper 4 investigates how instructional group format in classrooms (peer- vs. non-peer activity) influences the emotional states of students with emotional or behavioral problems.
Together, these papers provide new insights into the impact of the classroom peer environment on students with SEN.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chairs

• Christoph Michael Müller, University of Fribourg

• Carmen Zurbriggen, University of Bielefeld

Individual Presentations

• Classroom Peer Influence on Students With High Levels of Antisocial Behavior - Presenting Author: Verena Hofmann, University of Fribourg; Non-Presenting Author: Christoph Michael Müller, University of Fribourg

• Aggressive Behavior in Students With Disabilities: Investigating the Role of Classroom Peer Norms - Presenting Author: Chin-Chih Chen, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Molly Dawes, University of South Carolina; Non-Presenting Author: Thomas Farmer, College of William & Mary; Non-Presenting Author: Jill Hamm, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Classroom Behavioral Norms, Problem Behavior and Social Status in Special Education - Presenting Author: Fanny de Swart, Radboud University Nijmegen; Non-Presenting Author: Ron Scholte, Radboud University Nijmegen; Non-Presenting Author: Marc J. M. H. Delsing, Praktikon, Nijmegen; Non-Presenting Author: Esther van Efferen, CED-Groep, Rotterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Heleen van der Stege, CED-Groep, Rotterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Wendy Nelen, Praktikon; Non-Presenting Author: William Burk, Radboud University Nijmegen

• Students With Emotional or Behavioral Problems: Their Emotional Experience in the Classroom During Peer Interactions - Presenting Author: Carmen Zurbriggen, University of Bielefeld; Non-Presenting Author: Margarita Knickenberg, University of Bielefeld; Non-Presenting Author: Martin Venetz, Interkantonale Hochschule für Heilpädagogik