Katharina-Theresa Lindner

1. Educational transitions mark critical junctures in the life trajectories of young people. They are not only institutional shifts between school stages, but also social processes that reflect and...

Despite widespread political and societal consensus on the importance of inclusive education (Amor et al. 2019), its practical implementation remains challenging across diverse school systems (Haug...

This longitudinal study aims to examine Austrian lower secondary grade students' ( N = 415) emotional school well‐being, social inclusion and academic self‐concept regarding school placement over time (beginning of 5th till end of 6th grade). Using the Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ), students with and without learning disability (LD) from lower secondary schools attending regular, inclusive and special class settings were surveyed. Results show that about 20 per cent of sixth‐grade students indicated low emotional school well‐being. Students without LD exhibited higher academic self‐concept, social inclusion and emotional well‐being in regular classes compared to inclusive classes. For students with LD, emotional school well‐being was generally higher in inclusive classes at the beginning of 5th grade compared to special educational classes. At the end of 5th grade and the beginning of 6th grade, students with LD in special classes showed slightly higher values for academic self‐concept, social inclusion and emotional school well‐being compared to students with LD in inclusive classes. Overall, the study results indicate that Austria is struggling with implementing inclusion.

Several studies have investigated the perceptions of inclusion by students with special educational needs (SEN) and without SEN, most of them quantitatively. This research aims to expand the understanding of the perceived inclusion of students through qualitative interviews by examining how emotions, social relationships, and academic concepts matter. Therefore, the photovoice method was used for data collection, followed by semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed according to Mayring’s Qualitative Content Analysis. Regarding social integration in the classroom, the results of the interviews with six students with SEN and three students without SEN show mainly positive experiences with their classmates and attach great importance to school spaces (e.g., the schoolyard) that are used for interaction and communication among each other. In terms of the teacher–student relationship, it becomes apparent that the students place particular value on the support and help of the teachers in everyday school life as well as in private matters. Some students’ statements indicate that the self-perception of their academic self-concept differs in various school subjects. A contrast of perception between the students with and without SEN was not detected. Concerning emotional inclusion, the students primarily expressed statements related to emotion regulation and individual adaption strategies.

To prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect the health of school staff and students, Austrian education policymakers introduced several hygiene measures that posed new challenges for teachers. The current paper focuses on teachers’ perceptions of hygiene measures in schools during the 2021–2022 school year. In Study 1, 1372 Austrian teachers participated in an online survey at the end of 2021. In Study 2, five teachers participated in an in-depth qualitative interview study. The quantitative results show that half the teachers felt a strong burden from the COVID-19 tests, but that the tests worked better when teachers had more teaching experience. Elementary and secondary school teachers, unlike special education teachers, had fewer problems implementing COVID-19 testing. The qualitative results suggest that teachers needed an acclimatization period for previously unfamiliar tasks, such as COVID-19 testing, to become accustomed to this newly implemented measure. Additionally, wearing facemasks was only evaluated positively in the context of self-serving strategies, while the protection of student health was not considered. In summary, the current study calls attention to the particular vulnerability of teachers and provides insights into the reality of schools in times of crisis that could be particularly helpful to education policymakers.