Social acceptance, peer status & self-concept of children with learning disabilities in an inclusion setting

This study investigated the social acceptance, peer status, and self-concept of children with learning disabilities (CWLD) in an inclusion setting. The main objective of the study was to find out the actual social acceptance and peer status of CWLD in the general education classroom as perceived by their regular classmates and peers, who were non-learning disabled (non-LD), and how this affected the perceived self-concept of CWLD. Specifically, the study sought to find out the level of social acceptance and the level of self-concept of CWLD. It also tried to find out whether a popular (accepted) status resulted in a positive self-concept and a rejected status in a negative self-concept. It then determined whether a relationship existed between peer status and self-concept. The study used the descriptive quantitative correlation method as its research design. It involved 126 elementary children and six general education teachers from two private schools in Metro Manila - a traditional school in Muntinlupa, a progressive school in Parañaque - during the school year 2008 - 2009. Ninety-four of the children participants were regular students, classmates and peers inside the general education classroom who were not diagnosed with any learning disability (non-LD). Thirty-two had been identified and/or diagnosed with learning disabilities (CWLD). The non-LD children and CWLD, aged 12 to 14 were in Grade 6 and 7 classes. The perceived social acceptance of the CWLD was assessed using a researcher-validated interview questionnaire given to both 32 CWLD and their six general education teachers. The instrument used to establish the peer status of CWLD was the Peer Nominations tool adapted from Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli (1982); it was distributed to both CWLD and non-LD for them to accomplish. The instrument used to measure the self-concept of ii CWLD was the Self-Concept Rating Scale adapted from Pasao (1979). Observation of classes in both schools was also conducted. This provided the data on actual social interaction between CWLD and their non-LD peers. Triangulation of the three data sources - instrumentation, interview, and observation - was employed in the discussion of results and findings for concurrent validity of the study. Feedback from the teachers on the tests results on peer status and self-concept of CWLD was also sought for confirmation after the data analysis had been done. The results of the study showed that the level of social acceptance of CWLD was low (-.97) as was their level of self-concept. 68.75% of the respondents (N=22) validated the result for low self-concept. As hypothesized, the peer status category had an effect on the self-concept of CWLD; 56.25% of the respondents (N=18) validated this result. Based on the results, 18.75% of the accepted children (N=6) had a positive self-concept, while 37.50% of the rejected children (N=12) had a negative self-concept. Inverse results also came out of the study with 43.75% of the respondents (N=14) accounting for these findings. 31.25% of accepted children (N=10) had a negative self-concept and 12.50% of rejected children (N=4) had a positive self-concept. No significant relationship was established between peer status and self-concept for this sample group (N=32). The correlation r result of +.257 did not reach the level of significance of the required r at .05 = .348 that was intended for this study. Considering the chance factor of the sample size (N=32) for this particular study, the said result was not conclusive. However, since the correlation r result of +.257 points to the positive direction, it suggests the probability of a relationship between the two variables. It was therefore recommended that the study be replicated to gather more samples to further validate the findings of this iii study. Furthermore, based on the findings, general education teachers should help facilitate social acceptance of CWLD by their non-LD peers through group dynamics structured in a manner conducive to positive group interaction. The guidance counselor should help CWLD develop a more realistic and positive self-concept for them to better function socially and emotionally in relation to their non-LD peers in class