Social Participation of Students with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Seventh Grade

AbstractThis study addresses the social participation of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream 7th grade in Flanders (Belgium). Social participation (i.e., social interactions, peer acceptance, friendships, and social self-concept) was assessed by means of questionnaires among 86 students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 61 students with motor and/or sensory disabilities (MOTSENS) and 1926 normally developing classmates. Seventh grade students with ASD scored less favorably in all aspects. Girls with MOTSENS scored less favorably on some aspects of social participation than typically expected of their peers. The social participation of students with ASD and students with MOTSENS did not differ significantly

Perceived Teacher Responses to Bullying Influence Students' Social Cognitions

Teachers’ responses to bullying incidents are key in bullying intervention at school. Scholars have suggested that teacher responses can predict student cognitions that are associated with their bullying behaviors. However, little is known about whether and how teacher responses affect these cognitions. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of four immediate teacher responses on four bullying-related student cognitions, using an experimental vignette design. Additionally, it was examined whether students’ own participant role behaviors in actual bullying moderated these effects. The investigated teacher responses were non-response, comforting the victim, correcting the bully, and a combination of comforting the victim and correcting the bully. The investigated student cognitions were perceived teacher attitudes toward bullying, perceived teacher moral disengagement regarding bullying, student willingness to report bullying to the teacher and student expectations regarding bullying participant role behaviors in the classroom. Fourth-to-sixth grade students (N = 910; 47% boys; Mage = 11.04 years, SD = 0.91) read a vignette describing a hypothetical teacher’s response to a same bullying incident, following random assignment to one of eight conditions (i.e., four teacher responses × two genders of bully and victim in the vignette). Afterward, students completed questionnaires about their social cognitions and manipulation checks. ANOVA demonstrated that students perceived stronger teacher anti-bullying attitudes and less teacher moral disengagement when the hypothetical teacher displayed an active response. These effects were even stronger when the teacher corrected the bully compared to when only the victim was comforted. Further, students were more willing to report bullying when the teacher corrected the bully than when the teacher only comforted the victim. Finally, students expected less pro-bullying behaviors, more defending and less victimization in the vignette’s classroom following active teacher response compared to non-response. The effects of teacher responses on student cognitions were not moderated by students’ own participant roles in bullying. Taken together, these findings emphasize the importance of active teacher responses to bullying, and especially, responses that clearly show that bullying is not tolerated. Teachers are encouraged to be aware that students can deduce beliefs from teacher responses which can, in turn, affect bullying processes in the classroom

Adolescents' peer status profiles and differences in school engagement and loneliness trajectories:A person-centered approach

This study used a person-centered approach to identify adolescents' peer status profiles and examined how these profiles differed regarding the development of school engagement and loneliness. A sample of 794 adolescents was followed from Grades 7 to 11 (M-ageWave1 = 13.81 years). Measures included peer nominations of peer status, and student reports of school engagement and peer-related loneliness. Latent class growth analysis identified three profiles: popular-liked, unpopular-disliked, and normative. The popular-liked class revealed the lowest levels of behavioral engagement and loneliness. The unpopular-disliked class had higher levels of behavioral engagement, less steep increases in behavioral disaffection, and showed more loneliness. The normative class revealed moderate trajectories of engagement and loneliness. Moreover, boys and girls differed in their academic and psychosocial development. Implications of the findings for school practitioners are discussed

Migrant Students’ Sense of Belonging and the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Implications for Educational Inclusion

This article investigates school belonging among migrant students and how this changed during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 751 migrant students in secondary schools in six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK), we examined the impact of Covid‐19 school closures, social support, and post‐traumatic stress symptoms on changes in school belonging. Linear regression showed a non‐significant decrease in school belonging, and none of the studied variables had a significant effect on this change in our whole sample. However, sensitivity analysis on a subsample from three countries (Denmark, Finland, and the UK) showed a small but significant negative effect of increasing post‐traumatic stress symptoms on school belonging during Covid‐19 school closures. Given that scholarship on school belonging during Covid‐19 is emergent, this study delineates some key areas for future research on the relationship between wellbeing, school belonging, and inclusion.</p

Mental Health of Refugee and Non-refugee Migrant Young People in European Secondary Education : The Role of Family Separation, Daily Material Stress and Perceived Discrimination in Resettlement

While scholarly literature indicates that both refugee and non-refugee migrant young people display increased levels of psychosocial vulnerability, studies comparing the mental health of the two groups remain scarce. This study aims to further the existing evidence by examining refugee and non-refugee migrants’ mental health, in relation to their migration history and resettlement conditions. The mental health of 883 refugee and 483 non-refugee migrants (mean age 15.41, range 11-24, 45.9% girls, average length of stay in the host country 3.75 years) in five European countries was studied in their relation to family separation, daily material stress and perceived discrimination in resettlement. All participants reported high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Family separation predicted post-trauma and internalizing behavioral difficulties only in refugees. Daily material stress related to lower levels of overall well-being in all participants, and higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties in refugees. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased levels of mental health problems for refugees and non-refugee migrants. The relationship between perceived discrimination and post-traumatic stress symptoms in non-refugee migrants, together with the high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms in this subsample, raises important questions on the nature of trauma exposure in non-refugee migrants, as well as the ways in which experiences of discrimination may interact with other traumatic stressors in predicting mental health.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

The role of teacher behavior management in the development of disruptive behaviors: an intervention study with the good behavior game

Abstract The role of teacher behavior management for children’s disruptive behavior development (hyperactive and oppositional behavior) was investigated using a universal classroom preventive intervention study. Five-hundred seventy children were followed from second to third grade of elementary school. Observations of teacher behavior management and children’s on-task and off-task classroom behavior and peer reports of hyperactive and oppositional behavior were available. Results showed that the reduced use of negative remarks of intervention teachers predicted children’s increase in on-task behavior and decrease in talking-out behavior. These improved children’s classroom behaviors in turn mediated the impact of the intervention on the development of hyperactive and oppositional behavior over the studied period. These results were similar for girls and boys. The results underscore the role of teachers’ classroom management strategies in improving children’s classroom behavior, which, in turn is an important component in the reduction of disruptive behavior development

Hoe werken anti-pestprogramma's?

status: publishe

Terug naar de toekomst? Een comeback van opvattingen over 'goed' interventieonderzoek

status: publishe