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Third- And Fourth-Graders’ Perspectives On Social Exclusion: A Group Concept Mapping Study, Tsz-Wing Zita Lau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The focus of the present study was to examine third- and fourth-graders’ thoughts on social exclusion of peers with learning difficulties; participants’ responses were expected to corroborate Aboud’s (1988, 2008) social-cognitive developmental theory of prejudice. Moreover, Trochim’s (1989) Group Concept Mapping method was applied to engage the children in the data collection and analysis processes. The second goal of this study was to observe the participants’ capabilities in completing the research tasks. Findings revealed four themes in children’s responses: (a) differences between children, (b) challenges experienced by children with learning difficulties, (c) others’ negative attitudes, and (d) traits leading to …