The Role of Teaching Strategies in Social Acceptance and Interactions; Considering Students With Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Physical Education

Including students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in primary school-based physicaleducation (PE) is common practice. However, little is known about students’ socialparticipation in this environment and how it is related to PE teaching strategies.This multilevel study explored the relations between the teaching strategiesteachingcooperative skillsandusing individual reference norm orientation (IRNO), taking intoconsideration students’ social acceptance and interactions in inclusive PE. The resultsshowed that IRNO is positively related to social acceptance and positive interactionsin inclusive PE, and the special educational need (SEN) status of children with IDmoderated both relationships. Hence, IRNO helps to decrease the gap in socialparticipation between students with and without ID. Teaching cooperative skills werealso positively related to social acceptance of all children in PE, but there was nocross-level interaction for SEN status, and no relationship with positive interactions inPE. Thus, teaching cooperative skills can be seen as an inclusive PE teaching strategythat fosters social participation and the well-being of all students. This study addressesan issue relevant in many countries where inclusive school settings are prioritized. Infuture research on social participation, teacher, student, and class characteristics shouldbe acknowledge