Exclusion of pupils who are supposed to be included: A sociological analysis of autistic and ADHD pupils in the context of physical education in Danish schools

Following the 2012 Inclusion Act, fewer Danish pupils receive special education; more special needs pupils are now in mainstream education. It is estimated that up to 43% of special needs pupils included in mainstream compulsory education since 2012 have autism or ADHD (Baviskar et al., 2015; DH, 2016). This group, which previously were mostly provided with specially adapted education, is indicated by teachers and social educators as particularly difficult to include in mainstream classes (UVM, 2016) with levels of teacher support of only 15% (Baviskar et al., 2015). Inclusion is challenged in many ways and practice falls far short of the intentions of the Act. A survey from 2016 showed that 25% of special needs pupils in Denmark were exempted from physical education (PE) and thus effectively excluded from this part of their education (DH, 2016). PE places greater demands than other subjects on pupils’ motor and social skills; children with autism or ADHD are more often challenged in these areas, which may explain why exclusion rather than inclusion takes place in PE. The aim and research question of this study is: What are the possibilities and constraints of including pupils with autism or ADHD in PE? Theoretical framework and methodology design: The empirical research will take place in six mainstream classes at two public schools in Aalborg, Denmark. A process-oriented methodology will be used (Baur & Ernst, 2011), with an ethnographic fieldwork design, including 45 participant observations in PE lessons, 11 semi-structured interviews with pupils with autism or ADHD, four focus group interviews with the relevant PE teachers and six social network analyses in the classes. The empirical framework will be analysed from a macro and micro perspective, using the process sociologist Norbert Elias’ theory of the established and the outsiders (Elias & Scotson, 1994) and micro-sociologist Erving Goffman’s theory of stigma (2014). Some conclusions: Several pupils state in the interviews that they do not feel part of “us”, i.e. the “we-relationship” in PE. “Them”, i.e. the others in the class, are seen as well-established and closely bonded, and this limits many autistic and ADHD pupils’ opportunities to be part of PE classes. Feeling like an outsider in PE may also be related to pupils’ social position in the class, which is not necessarily connected to their PE ability. In cases where these pupils are exempted from PE, or where the PE teacher ignores their absence, the teachers’ actions have the unintended consequence of social exclusion for these pupils. This topic is also relevant in a Nordic perspective because the inclusion of pupils with e.g. autism or ADHD is a continuing challenge in all the Nordic countries.