Evidence from full-inclusion model: the social position and sense of belonging of students with special educational needs and their peers in Italian primary school

Abstract

Almost uniquely, a full inclusion model spanning all educational levels has been present in the Italian school for more than 30 years. However, the availability of empirical data is still very limited, meaning that we know little about the social and academic outcomes of students with special educational needs (SEN). This study attempts to bridge the gap. The social position and inherent sense of belonging of 418 (122 SEN) primary school pupils, aged 8–11, was analysed using The social inclusion survey and The belonging scale. Within the group of typically developing students, the findings demonstrate that it pays to be proficient. Indeed, the higher the proficiency, the higher the peer acceptance and the sense of belonging to their own school. Within the group of SEN students, the results support the idea that they struggle to gain a good social position, are less accepted and more peripheral within the class and feel quite distant from their school. These findings are strongly consistent with data from countries following a significantly different approach towards inclusion, thus suggesting that the full inclusion of SEN students into ordinary schools is not sufficient, per se, to increase their social abilities.

Keywords:

• inclusion
• social position
• sense of belonging
• peer acceptance

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the educational staff and the pupils of the following schools: Istituto Comprensivo C. Piaggia, Capannori (Lucca); Istituto Comprensivo Gandhi, Prato; and I Circolo Didattico, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze). We are also very grateful to Dr Peter Sumner for his helpful linguistic advice.

Notes

Lucia Donata Nepi and Andrea Peru contributed equally to the study.

1. It is worthy to note that there is no a general consensus on the definition of the term inclusion. Indeed, it is currently used in many different meanings even within the confines of a particular country or institution. For a review see Ainscow et al. (2006).