Secondary School Students with Disabilities at Break Time

Abstract

Break time fulfills an important role in the social development of students, providing free time for interaction where they are able to practice their abilities of making contact with others. Students with disabilities do not see themselves in the same light because they consider this activity an unstructured one to get on with. Break planning and mediation carried out by other pupils eases relationships between both groups and offers a natural learning environment among students, according to inclusive education principles. This research has been carried out by investigating multiple cases in three special education classrooms which belong to secondary schools, with a total of 19 students with disabilities. Over the course of three months of observation, 3,420 interaction instances were obtained which were linked with the students’ interviews. The results show a lower number of relationships between students belonging to classrooms with no planned breaks in their schedule and those classrooms which did plan their breaks and peer mediation. The practical implications are discussed.

Keywords

• discapacidad
• educación secundaria
• recreos
• inclusión
• interacción de estudiantes
• mediación entre iguales.