Social Exclusion in Inclusive Classrooms:A Question of Viewpoint?

The present study compares different measures of social inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN). We review common measures for social inclusion and hypothesize that the type of measure of social inclusion has a significant impact on the relationship between SEN and social inclusion. Further, we assume that more diverse classrooms are related to higher social acceptance. We elicited social networks of 439 primary school children in integrative classrooms with structured interviews. Results showed that differences in social inclusion between children with low, moderate and high SEN and students without SEN depended on the type of measure. We conclude that the measurement of social inclusion should capture a holistic view of a child's social relationships. In addition, contextual conditions of the classroom should be considered such that the focus of the evaluation is not whether a child fits into a classroom, but whether the classroom is accommodating the child.