Social relationships of students with SEN

From a pedagogical point of view, it is expected that the inclusive schooling of children with and without special educational needs contributes to fostering the participation of people with disabilities in society. Joint school attendance and joint learning should favor social exchanges and thus, foster mutual understanding of needs and these should provide the basis for an equal participation in all aspects of live in society by people with and without disabilities. The implementation of the Un- Convention on the Rights of people with disabilities during the next years will be accompanied by increased efforts with regard to inclusive schooling. However, empirical studies on the social situation of students with special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive classes show that their inclusion in the class community, indicated by friendships, interactions with peers, acceptance by peers and their associated self-perception, is lacking. The current project will investigate the actual social situation of all students in inclusive classes, with which variables it is related and which actions could improve the social participation of all students. To this extent, 920 students from 40 classes (3rd and 4th grade) and their teachers will be asked to fill in questionnaires on the topic. Furthermore, a number of individual students and teachers will be interviewed and class situations will be observed. Both, characteristics of individual students (e.g., social behavior and social competences) and interactions between students and between students and teachers will be recorded within the framework of the current project. Additionally, it will be investigated under which conditions (e.g. working in groups) social integration of students works better. An important objective of the study is that not only the current social participation is evaluated, but that factors are identified that can contribute to fostering participation.