Promoting self-determination for adolescents with mild intellectual disability. Validation of a self-determination measure and evaluation of an educational intervention

Self-determination is considered best practice for students with intellectual disability (ID), as it is linked to positive post-school outcomes (Wehmeyer, 2015). The promotion of self-determination through student-directed learning may also be beneficial for students’ academic performance and motivation for school work (Reeve, 2002). However, research suggests that students with ID may be less susceptible to self-determination interventions, as they gain lower effects from such interventions than their typically developing peers (e.g. Wehmeyer et al., 2012). In Norway, self-determination for individuals with ID is both a political and an educational goal (Norwegian White Paper, 2016). However, there is a lack of validated instruments that can assess self-determination in a Norwegian school context, and Norwegian special educators lack evidence-based instructional models that can be used to enhance the self-determination of their students with ID. This doctoral thesis addresses these issues by i) validating the AIR Self-Determination Scale for use with Norwegian students with mild ID, ii) investigating the effects of an intervention with the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on the self-determination and academic goal attainment of Norwegian students with mild ID, and iii) exploring which specific adaptations are required to both the measure and instructional model in order to meet the specific cognitive needs of students with mild ID. The first two papers in this thesis spring from the validation of the AIR-S-NOR (student form). The first paper (Garrels & Granlund, 2018) reports on the adaptations that were made to the original AIR Self-Determination Scale and that were found necessary to make it fit for use with students with mild ID after initial experiences from a pilot study. The validation study indicates robust psychometric features of the AIR-S-NOR, and it also found a significant difference between self-determination scores for students with ID compared to typically developing students, where students with ID scored significantly lower. Data from the validation study were then used to explore how students with and without ID experienced their opportunities for learning and practicing goal setting and planning at school, two important component skills of self-determined behavior. Further, it was also explored which kind of goals students set for themselves. This analysis resulted in the second paper of this thesis (Garrels, 2017), and findings suggest that, while approximately two-thirds of the students feel encouraged to set goals for themselves at school, 38% of all students report that they never or rarely feel that they can engage actively in goal-setting processes, and almost 60 % of the students report that they do not learn planning skills or goal attainment skills at school. Whereas typically developing students most frequently identified leisure time goals for themselves, students with ID more often identified academic goals, but these differences were not statistically significant. However, the observed trend may suggest difficulties for students with ID to generalize goal setting skills to other arenas than school. Findings from this first and second paper contribute to the rationale for the second part of this doctoral study, as they underscore the need for evidence-based practice to aid teachers with implementing instruction in self-determination skills for their students with ID. The second part of the doctoral study consists of an intervention study with the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction. This intervention study is covered in the third (Garrels & Arvidsson, 2018) and fourth (Garrels & Palmer, 2019) paper of this thesis. Research suggests that students with ID experience less effect from self-determination interventions than their typically developing peers (Wehmeyer et al., 2012), and therefore, it is important to reflect on how such interventions may be adapted to the specific needs of students with ID. Hence, in the third paper, a Vygotskian perspective on ID is presented, as this view takes into consideration both the individual’s cognitive impairments as well as the necessity to adapt educational interaction to these impairments, so that complex cognitive abilities such as self-determination skills may develop. Challenges that were encountered during the intervention and remedies are reported in this paper. Finally, the fourth paper presents a summary of the intervention study, as it looks into how the intervention with the SDLMI affects students’ academic goal attainment and self-determination. Findings suggest that student-directed learning with the SDLMI may have positive effects on students’ academic goal attainment. When students get to practice goal setting and goal attainment, they gain proficiency in important self-determination skills. A pre-posttest comparison of AIR-E-NOR (educator form) scores suggests that educators experience that the SDLMI provides their students with ID with more opportunities to practice self-determined behavior. Students themselves did not report a similar change on the AIR-S-NOR. This may indicate that a three-month intervention with the SDLMI may not be sufficient to change students’ self-reported self-determination, but that initial change may occur at the environmental level, as educators get a functional tool to infuse their educational practice with opportunities to train self-determination skills. This is in line with Mithaug’s (2003) self-determined learning theory, which explains how self-determination develops within the individual. This theory, which accentuates the importance of frequent exposure to opportunities to practice self-determined behavior, forms the theoretical framework for this thesis. Findings from the validation study suggest that there is sufficient reason for special educators to direct more attention towards teaching their students with ID self-determination skills, and this may also prove to be good practice for teachers in mainstream education. Findings from the intervention study indicate that the SDLMI may be a useful instructional model for educators who wish to introduce more opportunities for self-determined behavior in their classrooms. It is recommended that student-directed learning (such as e.g. with the SDLMI) becomes a natural part of Norwegian classroom practices. This may lead to multiple benefits for students, such as e.g. enhanced educational citizenship, improved academic goal attainment, and increased self-determination