THE PUPILS VOICE IN DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS

Abstract

Since ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009, joint ‘same goal’ and ‘different goal’ education of pupils with and without disabilities has become a key concern of any changes in German educational policy. The lively public discourse and the controversial debate among experts have been fuelled last but not least by a lack of research and a partly conflicting interpretation of research results concerning the effects of various educational settings for pupils with SEBD (cf. Ellinger and Stein, ). In the international professional discourse about research on inclusion, a methodical approach incorporating the views of pupils with special educational needs has been occasionally considered. An overview of current international findings from empirical research on the ‘pupils voice’ shows that initial – mainly regional – data are available from various countries (cf. Hartas and Geoff, ; O'Connor, Hodkinson, Burton, et al., ; Paige‐Smith and Rix, ), although no elaborate research tradition exists yet, and that scientists agree about the need to include this perspective in research activities. On that score the aim of this research project was to investigate the attitude of affected pupils on current trends in inclusive and segregated educational settings. The study's main target group consists of pupils experiencing difficulties in their emotional and social development, as these are the pupils who are most frequently educated in inclusive/integrative school settings as compared to pupils with other special educational needs (cf. KMK‐Statistik, ), and also as the number of schools offering special educational guidance for social, emotional and behavioural difficulties has increased by 300% in the past 15 years. In our study we explore German pupils experienced well‐being in different educational settings by using two different questionnaires designed to assess psychologically and pedagogically relevant views, evaluations and attitudes of elementary school‐aged children.