Facilitating responsible and self-directed behaviours in learners with special educational needs in the intermediate phase: teacher's perceptions in a private LSEN school in South Africa

M.Ed.Internationally in countries such as the United States of America and Australia, there has been a shift in focus over recent years from essentially content based education curricula towards education curricula which offer the opportunity for all individuals to realize their potential, and that are capable of producing productive, contributing members of society. According to the United States Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's most recent regional needs assessment (www.nwrel.org/planning/rna2000.html), "helping students become self-directed learners who take responsibility for their own academic performance" was ranked near the top of identified priorities. The focus on developing responsible and selfdirected learners extends beyond application to learning as cultivating responsible and self-directed behaviours is clearly intended to equip learners with responsible and self-directed behaviours and skills that in time will translate to their emergence as responsible and self-directed adult members of society. This is significant when considering the South African educational context, which also forwards educational goals that reflect the values of the society and that encapsulate the type of member of society that the educational system envisages producing. Given the legislative framework of South Africa, the resulting educational policies, as well as the importance of preparing learners to participate and contribute to a democratic society, it becomes clear that the development of responsible and self-directed learners is relevant to the South African context. Self-directed learning encourages individuals to take control of the learning experience. This means that learners are given choices and encouraged to make decisions as well as accept responsibility for associated consequences. Various characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of self-directed and responsible learners have been forwarded by various researchers in the field. Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasumssen (1995) suggest that responsible learners exhibit behaviours such as setting goals and choosing tasks, and have the ability to plan effectively and think ahead. Responsible and self-directed learners have been identified by Long (in Hiemstra,1994 ) as having typical, common internal personality traits or characteristics as well as characteristic external behaviours, attitudes and responses. In addition to certain personality traits, specific kinds of cognitive skills are identified by Long (in Hiemstra, 1994) as being particularly important in successful self-directed learning. Self-directedness in learning is then a term recognizing both external factors that facilitate a learner taking primary responsibility, and internal factors that predispose an individual to accepting responsibility for learning-related thoughts and actions, which are characterised by particular traits, and skills that are demonstrated by responsible and self-directed behaviours