Exploring the concept of Relational Inclusivity in the context of special and inclusive education: The importance of positive peer relationships for students

The importance of positive peer relationships for students, led by Dr. Christoforos Mamas and Mr. David Trautman.

The presentation will explore the concept of Relational Inclusivity (RI) in the context of special and inclusive education, focusing on the importance of positive peer relationships for students, especially those with identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We argue for a systematic understanding and promotion of relationships in schools to create more inclusive, caring, and just communities. We will introduce a Social Network Analysis (SNA) Toolkit as a set of tools for examining and transforming RI. We define RI as the extent to which all students are connected into the social fabric of their educational environments, emphasizing its ethical, moral, and pedagogical significance. We stress that programmatic models of inclusion may not necessarily result in actual inclusion, highlighting the need for active monitoring, development, and maintenance of RI to ensure the full engagement of students, especially those with SEND. Approaching RI from a social network perspective, we argue that educators should be intentional about cultivating relationships among all students, using the SNA Toolkit to visualize network structures and gain insights into social dynamics within classrooms. The Toolkit, a free web-based program, facilitates the collection of relational social network data through surveys, enabling teachers to analyse relationships and support the development of RI. The Toolkit’s user-friendly interface allows educators to create sociograms and obtain descriptive SNA measures without requiring expertise in social network methods. The SNA Toolkit could be a valuable resource for educators seeking systematic ways to understand and enhance the relational dimension of school, ultimately contributing to more inclusive educational practices.