We don't want to play with you!

School can be a tough place for young adolescents with behavioural problems or academic difficulties. Many of these children are more likely to be excluded by their peers than normally developing children.

Befriending a classmate is a personal choice, but current research shows that classroom norms play a role. They can influence how children perceive inclusion and whether they see it as beneficial or unnecessary. Thus, classroom norms in general also influence the attitudes of young adolescents towards children with behavioural problems or difficulties at school.

Over the course of a year, 1209 children from 61 Swiss school classes took part in a study conducted by the Lucerne University of Teacher Education. The study analysed the effects of inclusive classroom norms on compassion and inclusive attitudes towards hyperactive classmates. In all classes, at least one child received additional support from a teacher with special educational needs training. Up to seven children per class were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The study had two measurement points: at the end of year 5 and one year later at the end of year 6. At both measurement points, the researchers presented the pupils with a hypothetical story with a hyperactive protagonist. The pupils were then asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed their empathy with the protagonist and the likelihood of them including this child in their social activities.

Children from more inclusive classrooms are more likely to show understanding for their hyperactive peers.

To evaluate the class norms, the pupils were then asked six further questions. They had to say how they thought their classmates would react to situations in which the hyperactive protagonist was excluded. One question was: «How many children in your class would include Klaus/Maria - i.e. the hyperactive character in the story - in their work group?» The possible answers ranged from 1 = «None» to 4 = «All».

All students' subjective perceptions of their classmates' behaviour were then summarised in order to derive their shared assessment of the classroom environment and its norms. The researchers based their assumptions on previous studies by assessing the inclusivity of the norms of each individual classroom on a system level and comparing the different classrooms on a scale.

Competitive norms promote marginalisation

The study found that children from more inclusive classrooms were more likely to show understanding for hyperactive peers and generally develop an inclusive attitude towards children with behavioural problems. The study also found that the way in which individual children perceive the inclusive behaviour of their classmates has a major influence on how likely they are to empathise with hyperactive peers and include them in their activities.

«Inclusive norms in classrooms are valuable points of reference for children, which have a positive effect on their behaviour towards their hyperactive classmates,» explains Jeanine Grütter, a member of the research team. Grütter works at the Lucerne University of Teacher Education. Children with more competitive norms, on the other hand, are more likely to exclude peers with behavioural problems or academic difficulties. In particular, they tend to exclude hyperactive children more often because they believe their behaviour is intentional and therefore irresponsible.

For this reason, they perceive the behaviour in the school environment as particularly disruptive. «Children often don't understand what hyperactivity is. They don't realise that it is a disorder that is difficult to control,» says Grütter. In such an environment, children who are ready to perform and successful are particularly susceptible to excluding peers with behavioural problems or difficulties at school. This ensures that their group can continue to function effectively and that they achieve their personal learning goals.

However, academic achievement and inclusivity do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, classrooms whose environments promote an inclusive attitude towards children with behavioural problems or academic difficulties are more successful academically.

Teachers play an important role

«This is a challenge that schools in general face as they try to provide their students with the skills they need for their future. In adolescence, academic success is the primary determinant of access to higher education and so the pressure to perform is inextricably linked to the classroom. However, teachers can also promote inclusive standards in a competitive learning environment. For example, they can openly discuss with their class that each student has different needs and requires different levels of support. They can also point out that the whole class can be successful if the pupils help each other,» explains Grütter. «Fairness, social inclusion and an effectively functioning group are not necessarily mutually exclusive,» she adds.

However, according to Grütter, teachers often do not realise that they play an important role in how their students relate to each other. For example, if teachers support all students emotionally and treat them fairly, they are more likely to have a good relationship with their teachers and show positive behaviour in their interactions with their peers. «If teachers frequently reprimand students with ADHD in front of their classmates or speak negatively about them, this affects how they are treated by their classmates,» explains Grütter.

Only recently has teacher training included useful strategies to guide and promote diversity and inclusion in the classroom.

Jeanine Grütter

However, when teachers give their students more opportunities to share common interests in the classroom, they encourage the formation of cross-group friendships , which in turn favours an inclusive attitude among adolescents.

Grütter and her team are currently working on ways to help teachers actively promote inclusivity among their peers in the classroom. «Teachers receive intensive training in classroom management. But only recently has teacher training included useful strategies to guide and promote diversity and inclusion in the classroom. This is an important topic in the training of prospective teachers,» adds Grütter.