Research Article | Open Access
Promoting Friendship Development in Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms: A Literature Review
SeonYeong Yu Margaret Walden Krone
Pages: 183-193
Abstract
The purpose of this literature review was to describe research findings related to how
teachers could support friendships in inclusive early childhood classrooms, with particular interests in friendship development for young children with disabilities. This literature review was conducted to examine the following two questions: (a) How are
friendships between young children with and without disabilities defined and measured? and (b) What teaching strategies and intervention programs does research recommend to promote friendships between young children with and without disabilities?
The following criteria were used to determine the inclusion of articles: studies included
teachers, were conducted in inclusive early childhood classrooms in the United States,
had measures for friendships, and were published in peer-reviewed journals between
1990 to 2018. A total of eight studies were identified. The results of this review demonstrated that across all studies there were several common characteristics (e.g. mutual
liking, spending time together) in defining young children’s friendships. The studies reviewed also included various methods (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations) to
measure friendships and suggested effective strategies and intervention programs that
teachers could use to support friendship development. However, results also showed
that teachers did not readily use the evidence-based practices. Based on the results,
implications for future research and practices are discussed
Keywords
preschool, friendship, inclusive classrooms, disabilities or developmental delays