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Inclusive classrooms aim to promote the social participation of children with learning difficulties (LD). Research shows that children without LD view it as fair to include their peers with LD into the classroom community. Still, children with LD often face social exclusion. This study addressed this gap by investigating how children reason about challenging LD-based exclusion. One objective was to document the distinction between children’s personal goals and their expectations of their peers’ goals when confronting exclusionary behavior toward a peer with LD. Swiss elementary school children (N= 349, 7–13 years, 48% female) were introduced to a scenario about a classmate with LD who was excluded from a group task. They reasoned whether and why they would intervene and what reactions they expected from the group and the perpetrator. The results showed that the vast majority of childrenpersonallyintended to intervene, primarily for moral reasons. However, children’s expectations about their peers were different. They expected a wide range of responses, including negative group dynamics and LD-stereotypes. Higher perceptions of inclusive classroom norms were related to fewer expectations of negative group dynamics. Moreover, older children’s reasoning was more differentiated and included multiple concerns simultaneously. These findings inform strategies for creating inclusive classrooms.
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Group Norms Influence Children’s Expectations About Status Based on Wealth and Popularity
Children’s understanding of status and group norms influence their expectations about social encounters. However, status is multidimensional and children may perceive status stratification (i.e., high- and low-status) differently across multiple status dimensions (i.e., wealth and popularity). The current study investigated the effect of status level and norms on children’s expectations about intergroup affiliation in wealth and popularity contexts. Participants ( N = 165; age range: 5–10 years; M age = 7.72 years) were randomly assigned to hear two scenarios where a high- or low-status target affiliated with opposite-status groups based on either wealth or popularity. In one scenario, the group expressed an inclusive norm. In the other scenario, the group expressed an exclusive norm. For each scenario, children made predictions about children’s expectations for a target to acquire social resources. Novel findings indicated that children associated wealth status to some extent, but they drew stronger inferences from the wealth dimension than from the popularity dimension. In contrast to previous evidence that children distinguish between high- and low-status groups, we did not find evidence to support this in the context of the current study. In addition, norms of exclusion diminished children’s expectations for acquiring social resources from wealth and popularity groups but this effect was more pronounced between wealth groups. We found age differences in children’s expectations in regards to norms, but not in regards to status. The implications of how these effects, in addition to lack of effects, bear on children’s expectations about acquiring resources are discussed.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1728918
- PAR ID:
- 10329631
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Volume:
- 13
- ISSN:
- 1664-1078
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.816205
