New special educational practices for social skills and play between children. Inclusive reflections and enactments of peer-mediated instruction and intervention in Swedish preschools

Abstract in English

Play between children is crucial for their well-being, development, and learning. Peer-mediated instruction and intervention (PMII) is an evidence-based practice (EBP) that aims to increase such play for children with low social skills due to disabilities and other special educational needs, here referred to as “children with SEN”.

Feasibility studies grounded in implementation science can provide insights into the contextual opportunities, obstacles, and outcomes of EBP for children with SEN and their educators. With this objective, the thesis explored PMII through the Play Time/Social Time (PT/ST) programme. PT/ST involves educators guiding and scaffolding children with SEN and their more socially skilled peers to help them play together. Besides play-based learning sessions on social skills, PT/ST contains the Teacher Impression Scale (TIS). TIS can be used for structured observations of children’s play to identify and monitor children’s strengths and difficulties in social play skills and peer interactions.

The two studies of the thesis, resulting in three papers, are situated within the framework of quality inclusion and informed by a bioecological development perspective. The analysis focused on dynamic factors influencing the applications of PT/ST and a Swedish version of the TIS, the TIS-S, in Swedish preschools through an interconnected model for teachers’ reflections and enactments of new practices.

Paper I investigated the psychometric properties and social validity of the TIS-S. Sixteen teachers from 12 preschools participated. Quantitative and qualitative data from teacher observations and a survey indicate that the TIS-S reliably differentiated between children with and without SEN in social play situations. Based on the teachers’ professional reflections, the TIS-S showed potential to provide insights into play interactions between children and to support the adaptation of social learning environments, with minor revisions for clarity and usability.

Papers II and III included four teachers who performed PT/ST in their respective preschools, with four children with SEN and six peers without SEN. These papers explored social skills, engagement, and peer play outcomes for children with SEN and the feasibility of PT/ST, with and without coaching for the teachers, through structured observations, recorded coaching conversations, teacher logbooks, video recordings, questionnaires, and a group interview. The findings reveal that three out of four children with SEN demonstrated increased engagement and peer interactions following the intervention. Intervention fidelity was higher in coached preschools, though completion rates were affected by staff and child absences. Coaching did not significantly influence the children’s social play skills. Engaging, interactive toys, goals and roles facilitated play between children; play barriers included mismatched play materials and limited peer engagement. The teachers perceived that while PT/ST supported social skills and peer play for children with SEN, it also provided them with beneficial methodologies that complemented their inclusive preschool practices when used regularly and responsively. They also perceived challenges in organising the PT/ST sessions and ensuring staff collaboration.

Throughout the studies, the external PMII information connected the teachers’ knowledge, values, and practices with the salient outcomes of PT/ST and TIS-S. Their reflections and enactments of PT/ST and TIS-S disclosed dynamic links in inclusive teaching across external, personal, practical, and consequence domains. Organisational conditions that sometimes disrupted the implementation of PT/ST exposed broken links in inclusive enactments.

The thesis concludes that continuous professional development, adequate resources, and clearer inclusion policies and guidelines are critical for introducing and sustaining new special educational practices such as PMII – and, not least, collaboration within and across various levels of the current preschool context.