Inclusive classroom norms, children's sympathy, and intended inclusion toward students with hyperactive behavior

Inclusive classroom norms and children's expectations of inclusion of peers with learning difficulties in their social world

We examined whether inclusive classroom norms predicted children's reasoning and expectations about the inclusion of peers with learning difficulties from different perspectives (i.e., self, friends, and unfamiliar story protagonist). Swiss elementary school children (N = 1019; 51% girls; Mage = 10.20 years; Grades 3-6) shared their perceptions of inclusive classroom norms and answered questions regarding the inclusion of a character with learning difficulties in an academic scenario. Multilevel analyses revealed that children expected less inclusion from their friends (estimated OR = 0.14, p < .001) or the unfamiliar story protagonist (estimated OR = 0.15, p < .001) than from themselves. Inclusive classroom norms positively predicted children's own (estimated OR = 3.17, p = .041) and their friends' inclusion expectations (estimated OR = 4.59, p = .007). Moreover, individuals who perceived higher inclusive norms than the classroom average were less concerned that the inclusion of the child with learning difficulties would threaten successful group functioning (γ = - 0.19, p = .011). To target the inclusion of children with learning difficulties, school psychologists can heighten classmates' perceptions of inclusive norms and pay attention to individual differences in norm perception.

Sexual Attraction Disparities in Adolescent Mental Health: The Role of School Norms

Purpose: Few studies examine whether and how heterosexist norms in schools might influence disparities in mental health between sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents. Addressing this gap, we study disparities in life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, and emotional problems between same/both-sex attracted and other-sex attracted adolescents and examine the moderating role of heterosexist norms on the classroom- and school-level. Methods: We used data from the 2013 and 2017 Dutch Health and Behavior in School-Aged Children study (N = 12,756; mean age = 14.02; standard deviation = 1.54). Separate multi-level analyses for life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, and emotional problems were conducted in which cross-level interaction effects between sexual attraction and school and classroom-level heterosexist norms were estimated. Results: Same-sex attracted, both-sex attracted, and adolescents unsure about their sexual attraction reported lower life satisfaction, more psychosomatic complaints, and more emotional problems than their other-sex attracted peers. On average, stronger school-level heterosexist norms were associated with higher life satisfaction, fewer psychosomatic complaints, and fewer emotional problems. Stronger classroom-level heterosexist norms were associated with fewer emotional problems. One moderating effect of sexual attraction and school-level heterosexist norms was found. Contrary to expectations, disparities in life satisfaction between same-sex attracted and other-sex attracted adolescents were smaller when classroom-level heterosexist norms were stronger. Standardized regression coefficients showed that the associations were small. Conclusion: Although our findings suggest pressing health disparities between heterosexual and sexual minority adolescents, heterosexist norms at the school and classroom level were weakly associated with these health disparities.

Do Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Become Socially Isolated? Longitudinal Within-Person Associations in a Nationally Representative Cohort

Objective

This study examined longitudinal associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and social isolation across childhood. The study tested the direction of this association across time, while accounting for preexisting characteristics, and assessed whether this association varied by ADHD presentation, informant, sex, and socioeconomic status.

Method

Participants included 2,232 children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. ADHD symptoms and social isolation were measured at ages 5, 7, 10, and 12. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were used to assess the directionality of the association across childhood.

Results

Children with increased ADHD symptoms were consistently at increased risk of becoming socially isolated later in childhood, over and above stable characteristics (β = .05-.08). These longitudinal associations were not bidirectional; isolated children were not at risk of worsening ADHD symptoms later on. Children with hyperactive ADHD presentation were more likely to become isolated, compared with inattentive presentation. This was evident in the school setting, as observed by teachers, but not by mothers at home.

Conclusion

The study findings highlight the importance of enhancing peer social support and inclusion for children with ADHD, particularly in school settings. This study adds explanatory value beyond traditional longitudinal methods, as the results represent how individual children change over time, relative to their own preexisting characteristics.

Diversity & Inclusion Statement

We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location and/or community where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.

Socioeconomic status biases among children and adolescents: The role of school diversity and teacher beliefs in Nepal

Investigating socioeconomic status (SES) biases, Nepalese children and adolescents (N = 605, 52% girls, M_age  = 13.21, SD_age  = 1.74) attending schools that varied by SES composition were asked to anticipate whether a peer would include a high or low SES character as a math partner. Novel findings were that students attending mixed SES schools were more likely to expect inclusion of a low SES character than were students attending high SES schools. With age, high SES participants attending mixed SES schools increasingly expected the inclusion of the low SES character. Moreover, teachers' democratic beliefs in high SES schools predicted inclusive expectations. Teacher beliefs and school diversity play a significant role for fostering students' inclusivity in educational contexts.

How Do Children Socially Learn from Narrative Fiction: Getting the Lesson, Simulating Social Worlds, or Dialogic Inquiry?

Educators read narrative fiction with children not only to promote their literacy skills, but also to support their sociomoral development. However, different approaches strongly diverge in their explanations and recommended instructional activities. Informed by theoretical understandings of reader-text transactions, this integrative review presents three different conceptions about how children learn socially from narrative fiction. The first approach explains sociomoral learning through narrative fiction by children’s extraction and internalization of the text’s moral message. The second approach refers to children’s training of mindreading and empathy as they become immersed in a fictional social world and imaginatively engage with the fictional characters’ perspectives. The third approach focuses on children’s social reasoning development through engagement in argumentative dialogues with peers about the complex sociomoral issues raised in narrative fiction. The article aims to theoretically position a wide range of literary programs to clarify their psychological foundations as well as critically discuss their strengths and limitations.

A Cooperative Learning Intervention to Promote Social Inclusion in Heterogeneous Classrooms

Concerning challenges with the social inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN), it is imperative to evaluate teacher interventions that promote social inclusion. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cooperative learning (CL) intervention on social inclusion. In addition, it was investigated to what degree CL implementation affected the outcomes. Fifty-six teachers of 958 fifth-grade children were randomly selected to intervention and control groups upon recruitment to the study. The intervention teachers received training and coaching in CL and implemented this approach three to four times a week for 15 weeks. The results showed a significant but small effect of CL on children's social acceptance, but no significant effect on children's friendships and perceptions of classroom relationships. The degree of CL implementation had effect on children's social acceptance, but the effect was not consistent across social acceptance measures as a friend or a groupmate. Thus, it can be concluded that CL, conducted with the length and intensity of this study, may not lead to substantial changes in the social inclusion of children with SEN. In future studies, more focus needs to be devoted to teacher implementation of the CL approach.

Predictors of attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities: empathy for a change towards inclusion

Social change towards inclusion is a very common topic, but progress is slow. Because of its importance in the current educational context, knowing how to speed up this transformation is fundamental. A multiple regression analysis with a transversal quantitative designed survey (n = 245) was conducted. The aim was to identify internal and external factors predicting attitudes towards people with intellectual disability in undergraduate students at the University of Murcia (Spain). According to the expected estimate, the variables 'empathic concern' and 'chosen degree' predict good attitudes towards people with intellectual disability among university students. On the other hand, external variables such as 'previous knowledge about disability' or 'contact with people with disabilities' are not explanatory factors. These findings contribute to the existing knowledge about predictive variables for attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities in the future Spanish education professionals.