Peer relations in inclusive classes

Peer relations represent an important area of research in the field of school pedagogy, reflecting the students' social, intellectual, moral and emotional development. The research issue in this paper focuses on peer relations in inclusive classes, but considering the complexity of these relationships, the aim of the research is to look at these relationships through two dimensions: the quality of friendship and the sense of loneliness. Research questions are focused on establishing a relationship between the quality of friendship and sense of loneliness in boys and girls and identifying significant predictors of sense of loneliness in inclusive classes (gender, parents' education, material opportunities, number of close friends and friendship quality). The study included 152 students from eight inclusive classes. Adapted questionnaires for measuring quality of friendship and loneliness were used as measuring instruments. Pearson coefficient of correlation found that there was a statistically significant association between quality of friendship and loneliness in girls, while in boys no such association existed. T-test showed a significant difference in the quality of friendship, with girls having a higher quality of friendship. Gender and friendship quality have shown as significant predictors of the explained feelings of loneliness. In the implications for implementation and conclusions, it was emphasized that it is possible to improve students' acceptance by peers and that the training of social relationships can influence the quality of friendship which represents a protective factor for the emergence of loneliness and abuse by peers.