An investigation of peer interaction in the preschool inclusive classrooms

Abstract

Four children with Down syndrome who were attending a full-time inclusive class and the other normally developing children in the same class were taken as the sample of this study which aims to investigate the peer interaction in the pre-school classrooms in which mainstreaming education is followed. Unstructured observations were done during the free time activities that the children are least guided by the teacher. Observations took 40 minutes for five days in each classroom. As a result, positive social communication behaviors were observed more than the negative ones between the children receiving mainstreaming education and the normally developing children. The children with special needs showed irritation and anger after getting excluded from the games, being seen inadequate, being criticized and not sharing the material. The normally developing children were usually unresponsive to the negative behaviors of the children with special needs. It was observed that the normally developing children helped and let the children with special needs join the game when they saw them adequate, however, they did not want to take them into activities at which they thought the children with special needs were inadequate.