Educational Orientations, Autonomy and Decision Making in the Classroom

In recent years new directions in special education have been legislated. This paper examines these new directions and how they affect the orientations of teachers and instructional aides who are working with severely mentally impaired students. It examines decision making based on the feelings of effectiveness and autonomy experienced by teachers and aides. The school was chosen because it provides the opportunity to observe teachers and instructional aides at work with students. Observation, as a method, offered original data and allowed the observer to participate in the classroom. These orientations are important because they affect the way teachers and instructional aides relate to students.Master of Public AdministrationPublic AdministrationUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143336/1/Heffner.pd