In the introductory questions in each of the first focus groups, the question was asked whether the learners come to school because of their peers (see Appendix F). All but one of the learners responded “yes”, indicating that peers are a very important
74 | P a g e special school. Friendships typically form an integral part of a teenager’s life. In this regard, the majority of the learners in special schools asserted that the friendships that they had made at their special school were closer than the friendships that they had made at their previous mainstream schools. Similar findings have been reported by Nind et al. (2012), namely that when learners (the participants in their study) described their peers in special schools, it was in terms of friendship and close bonds, while when they described their peers in mainstream schools, it was in terms of rejection.
One of the learners stated that since attending a special school, his self-esteem had increased. He asserted that it was “thanks to the kids in my class”, and that “they are
always there for me”. Another learner expressed the same sentiments when he said
“in a school like ours, the classes are so small, and everyone has such a good
bond”. Several times the learners responded by saying that the learners in their class
were “like my family”. Indeed, one learner responded, “They are more of a family
than my own family is” and “Actually the reason that I come to school every day is my friends”, and “It’s nice at school. I fit in”.
Fordham and Stevenson-Hindle (1999) noted that friendship has a positive effect on a person and the way in which they perceive themselves. If learners’ self-esteem increases they will be more motivated to improve their academic performances. This is an important factor, as although peers are not related to education itself, peers can be a factor that can either make or break a learner’s placement, as relations with peers can affect factors such as academic performance, concentration in class, performance in extracurricular activities, as well as learners’ general frame of mind at school. A study by Warrington and Younger (2011) states that a sense of being included in a friendship circle with peers can lead to a definite increase in a learner’s self-esteem. Not only is self-esteem affected, but, conversely, if a learner does not “fit in”, and is socially isolated, the effects can be seen in the learner’s behaviour and mood as well as in their schoolwork and academic performance.
While the majority of the learners reported having a positive experience with peers in their special schools, two of the learners struggled to find peers to form friendships with. One of the learners related how he struggled to make friends in a special
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school, as he said that the school was “like, so small, and hardly anyone interacts
with us”. One of the learners (who was unhappy about his school placement) said
that the learners his the school were not his “type” and that for this reason he
struggled to find peers that he had things in common with.
One of the learners even brought up the fact that learners of different colour do not mix and become friends, due to race issues. She called this “to have apartheid in the
school”. Although education has changed a considerably since the years of
apartheid, the effects of apartheid can still be seen to a certain degree today. Pendlebury and Enslin (2004) mention that the inequalities of the past are often carried through the system. This is evidently still happening today. Many of the learners mentioned the fact that they felt excluded in terms of “peers” as they had fewer friends in their special school, as there were fewer learners in their special school than in their former mainstream school. One of the learners explained how in her former mainstream school she had many friends, but in her current special school she had only one or two friends. This was because she couldn’t connect with most of her peers as she was the only English speaking black person in her school. Interestingly, both of the learners that found it difficult to maintain peer relations in their special school placement were the learners who were unhappy about being placed in a special school. One of these learners was the learner who had been placed in the school during the course of the year and who had been given a medical diagnosis of childhood diabetes. The learner often mentioned that he wished he had “hundreds of friends”, as he claimed was the case in his mainstream school placement. It could therefore said that the learner felt that he had a peer group at his former mainstream school, where he felt accepted and felt that he belonged, and he believed he would never find the same in his new (special school) placement. The converse of this could also be said to be true, the learners that were not accepted and who felt as though they did not belong in their mainstream placement formed strong relationships with their peers in their special school placement.