Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Self-Determination Supports in Inclusion Classrooms

Author

Suzanne Tiffany-SalogubFollow

Date of Award

Fall 12-8-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education: Curriculum and Teaching

First Advisor

Jennifer Samson

Second Advisor

Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides

Third Advisor

John Ranellucci

Academic Program Adviser

Marshall George

Abstract

The outcomes presented in this dissertation were motivated by a scarcity of research that explores self-determination practices explicitly within inclusive classrooms. Three overarching goals motivated my research. The first was to understand what inclusion teachers know and do in relation to self-determination (Chapter 2). The second was to understand how their practices align with existing knowledge about self-determination in the field (Chapter 3). Finally, I sought to create an accessible, research-based tool tailored to inclusion teachers who seek to support their students in developing self-determination skills (Chapter 4). To achieve these goals, I designed an investigation using a case-study design that included ten inclusion teachers utilizing semi-structured interviews to explore their beliefs and understandings of self-determination in their classrooms. In Chapter 2, a descriptive study was conducted to analyze a subset of the larger dataset that resulted in nine high-frequency themes (top quartile of themes referenced) drawn from the interviews. These themes fall into one of two categories: Practices to support student behavior and Colleague collaboration, and have implications for how teachers can readily implement strategies for supporting self-determination in their students. Chapter 3 builds on findings from the first study to propose nine Self-Determination Quality Indicators for Inclusion Classrooms and how they align with existing self-determination research. Lastly, Chapter 4 proposes a teacher-accessible tool, the Quality Indicators of Inclusion Classrooms (QIIC), designed to guide inclusion teachers as they reflect on their practices.

Recommended Citation

Tiffany-Salogub, Suzanne, "Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Self-Determination Supports in Inclusion Classrooms" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/941