Development of a Social Skills Training Program for Elementary School Students in an Inclusive Educational Setting

The purpose of this study is to develop a social skills training program for elementary school students in an inclusive educational setting and to confirm its effectiveness through a pilot study. To this end, eight social skills essential for elementary school students were selected by analyzing the social skills training program conducted in previous studies. After that, the Friendly Friends program consisting of eight sessions was developed by combining common elements (modeling, role play, coaching, feedback, and generalization) of the teaching process for effective social skills training, and it was implemented for 22 lower (grades 1-3) elementary school students. The pilot study found that the social skills and social emotional competences of elementary school students who participated in the Friendly Friends program in an inclusive educational setting improved significantly, and social behavior in families and communities as perceived by parents also improved. Finally, discussions of the results and suggestions for future research were presented.