Membership and belonging in inclusive classrooms: What do middle school students have to say?

The purpose of this qualitative research shady was to explore the character istics of classroom membership as perceived by middle school students thems elves and for their classmates with severe disabilities. A total of 51 midd le school students, of whom 4 students had severe disabilities, participate d in the main study. Multiple focus group interviews and individual intervi ews were conducted to obtain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of membership and belonging. Following qualitative data analysis procedures, findings indicated that middle school students thought that having friends in class, peer interactions, actively participating in class activities, an d obtaining good grades indicated membership. Students attributed teachers with helping them feel like members of the class. Students also associated certain class activities with classroom membership; they felt part of the c lass when class work was firn, active interesting, and meaningful. Students ; perceived similar indicators of membership for their classmates with seve re disabilities. In conclusion, findings provided implications for teachers to facilitate membership and a sense of belonging for middle school studen ts with and without disabilities in their inclusive classrooms.