In the following master's thesis, we investigate classroom climate and school achievement in elementary school classes integrating children with special needs. We are interested in specific things: whether the climate is positive, supportive, and stable; how many excluded or ignored pupils there are; the amount of punishment and discipline; and what the school achievement is like compared to classrooms without children with special needs. In the theoretical part of the thesis, first, we introduce inclusive education in modern society: the democratic structure as a basis for equality of rights; school legislation for children with special needs; equity as a basis for inclusion; the concept of inclusion itself, and we also define children with special needs. This is followed by a chapter that links inclusion to school culture and classroom climate, describing the impact of different factors on both. The chapter concludes with classroom management skills and describes the role of empathy. We conclude the theoretical part with a chapter on discipline, explaining the correlation between discipline and classroom climate. Then, in the empirical part, we present the results obtained through the questionnaires. They were completed by eight sections of pupils from 5th to 9th grade from two Slovenian elementary schools. The results of the survey showed that the climate in classes where there are also children with special needs is neither friendlier nor more encouraging, yet it is more stable than in classes without children with special needs. There are also more ignored and excluded pupils in the classes with children with special needs. The results also showed that classes with children with special needs experience less praise and the same amount of punishments and that academic success and support in learning do not differ from the classes without those children. In the final part of the master's thesis, we add our conclusions and suggestions for improving school practice.
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