Leaders for LIFE

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Leaders for LIFE

• By Mary Young

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Think about self-determination and leadership

• What is self-determination? Define leadership.
• Who do you consider to be a leader? What are
  their characteristics?
• How does a person develop self-determination
  skills?
• How does one become a leader?

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• Self-determination refers to volitional
  actions that enable one to act as the primary
  causal agent in ones life and to maintain or
  improve ones quality of life Wehmeyer, 2007, p.
  6).
• The component elements of self-determined
  behavior are

Choice -making Decision-making Problem-solving Goa
l-setting and attainment Self-observation Self-eva
luation Self-reinforcement Self-instruction Self-a
dvocacy Self-awareness Self-knowledge Internal
locus of control Risk taking
Self-determined learning model of instruction in
Promoting Self-Determination in Students with
Developmental Disabilities by Michael L. Wehmeyer
(2007, p.8)
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• Leadership is helping others confront problems
  that have never been successfully addressed
  (Fullan, 2001, Leading in a Culture of Change, p.
  3).
• There are five components to leadership

Moral purpose Understanding change Relationship
building Knowledge creation and sharing Coherence
making
http//www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Pro
fessionalDevelopment/ProfessionalStandards/Red_boo
k_5th_edition.pdf
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Link to Administrative Standards

1. Leadership and Policy IDEA 2004 Transition
   Services
2. Development and Characteristics of Learners
   Looking at the strengths and challenges of
   students with special needs and helping them
   become self-determined
3. Individual Learning Differences Helping
   students learn how they learn and what
   accommodations they need to learn best
4. Instructional Strategies, Research and
   Assessment Using assessments to help students
   plan post-secondary goals Indicator 13 and 14
   data
5. Professional Development Division on Career
   Development and Transition Transition Forum

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Link to Administrative Standards

• Collaboration Teaching students to advocate for
  adult services and college disability services
  school business partnerships
• Instructional Planning Students learn to guide
  their instruction and learning based on their
  needs and interests they develop and lead their
  IEPs
• Assessment Students are included in assessment
  practices and evaluate their progress themselves
• Professional and Ethical Practice Transition
  staff belong to professional organizations and
  attend conference on the CSB Board Support
  their students self-advocacy person centered
  plans include/respect the families (cultural
  background)

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A Comparison

• Self-determination
• Focus on individual needs and concerns
• Implies personal management skills and self
  directed behavior
• Includes basic and inalienable rights

• Leadership
• Focus on collective needs and concerns
• Requires a relationship between leaders and
  followers
• Leadership is conferred/required

Source Self-determination, Self-advocacy, and
the role of the Professional by Iriina Paraschiv
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Self-determination leads to

• a self-determined learner or a self-directed
  learner.
• knowing ones self and being able to
  self-advocate.
• leadership
• So what?

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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills!

• Literature Review
• Self-Determination What Do We Know? Where Do We
  Go? (2007)
• Students with higher self-determination scores
  had a more positive post-school outcomes.
• Self-determination contributed to a more positive
  quality of life for people with intellectual
  disabilities.
• Implications a) more teacher training and more
  support
• b) implementation of strategies in the
  educational context
• c) more instruction and involvement of
  families
• d) the promotion of self-determination in
  younger students

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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills!

• Literature Review
• Promoting Self-Determination for Transition-Age
  Youth Views of High School General and Special
  Education (2008)
• Both general and special education teachers feel
  self-determination skills are important, but they
  do not necessarily feel qualified nor do they
  have time to teach them .
• General education classes may provide
  opportunities for students with disabilities to
  acquire skills that may enhance their
  self-determination, but they may need more
  effective strategies to acquire and apply them.
• Implications
• a) There is a need for intervention and
  instructional strategies that are feasible
  , effective, and relevant in general education
  classrooms at the high school level. They
  must work for a wide range of students.
• b) A promising model The Self-determined
  Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI)

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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills!

• Review The Trophy Kids Grow Up, by Ron Alsop.
  Harvard Business Review Magazine (November 2008,
  p. 36).
• Generation showered with praise for the most
  modest accomplishments.
• Generation with acute sense of entitlement.
• Have helicopter parents that hover over college
  applications and grading procedures.
• In the workforce they want constant positive
  feedback and have an unrealistic expectations
  when it comes to career advancement.
• They like adults and want to score well.
• Corporations need to teach them some manners,
  such as turn off your IPods in meetings and leave
  the stripped jeans at home.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean
Covey, www.7habits4teens.com Possible Selves by
Hock, M., Schumaker, J., Desher, D.
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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills!

• Promoting Self-Determination in Students with
  Developmental Disabilities by Michael L.
  Wehmeyer (2007)
• Provides teachers with a framework to enable
  young people to become casual agents of their
  lives.
• Based on the component elements of
  self-determination, the process of self-regulated
  problem solving, and research on student-directed
  learning.
• It is appropriate for both students with and
  without disabilities across wide range of content
  areas. Students are active participants in their
  learning it is self-directed.
• Implications
• a) Paradigm shift
• b) Teachers will need to direct the student
  through a problem-solving sequence of
  thoughts to satisfy their needs and interests.
• c) Self-directed and can help students
  develop self-led IEPs.

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Virginias Self-Determination Project
www.imdetermined.org
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______________ Present Level of Performance
is about
understanding my disability and advocating for
myself by identifying my post-school goals,
strengths, challenges, concerns, and needs in my
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Post-school goals
Employment Education/Training Independent
Living/Community Participation
What I know
Strengths (Academic and Social)
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See Handouts on SDLMI

• Phase 1 Set a Goal
• Phase 2 Take Action
• Phase 3 Adjust Goal or Plan

Note Curriculum Modifications, Accommodations,
Technology and Universal Design for Learning will
play a large part in this model.
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An Example of Setting a Goal
Step 1 What class do I want to improve in? Math Step 2 What do I want to learn or improve on in Math class? Figuring out how much tip to leave in restaurants. Step 3 What must change for me to learn what I dont know in math class? I need to know the steps in a frame and an example of a problem that has been solved, and have things color coded. Step 4 What can I do to make this happen? I can ask my teacher to give me an example of a solved problem in a frame. I can have her color code it for me. After she teaches me I can practice problems Step 5 Write goal. My goal is to figure out how much tip to leave ten times using my frame.
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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills

• Partnership for 21st Century Skills
  www.21stcenturyskills.org
• Overview
• Core subjects
• Skills

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PBS
21st Century Skills
Make sure these are included in our framework
Social and Safety Skills
Learning and Innovation Skills
Differentiated Instruction
Self-determination Leadership Skills
Core Subjects and 21st Century
Themes
Information, Media and Technology Skills
Life and Career Skills
UDL
SDI
RTI
Standards and Assessment
Curriculum and Instruction
Professional Development
Learning Environment
Framework graphic from www.21stcenturyskills.org
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Everyone needs self-determination,self-advocacy
and leadership skills!

• West Virginias Framework for High Performing
  21st Century High Schools
• http//wvde.state.wv.us/21stcenturydigitalresourc
  e/PDF20High20School20Framework.pdf

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Implications for Practice

• If Virginia, and ultimately LCPS, adopts the
  framework for 21st Century Skills, we must make
  sure PBS, RTI, Self-determination, self advocacy
  and UDL are infused into the framework.

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What are the main issues? Where can we find the
answers?

• Lack of teacher understanding of
  self-determination and leader in the 21st
  century.
• Overloading teachers and time to teach one more
  thing
• Limited services, supports, and resources for
  adults with intellectual disabilities and autism
• The adult service system in and of itself
• What happens when the economy is in trouble?
• Over taxed supports at the college level
• Fear of the unknown
• Assessment of some 21st century skills
• Schools always playing catch up

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Self-Determined Leaders for LIFE
Living Interdependently Fosters Empowerment
Tyler Green Im Tyler
www.ImTyler.org
Learning Interdependently Fosters Education or
Evolution
Randy Pausch The Last Lecture

• http//www.cmu.edu/uls/journeys/randy-pausch/index
  .html

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References

• Carter, E., Lane, K., Pierson, M., Stang, K.
  (2008) Promoting self-determination for
  transition age youth Views of high school
  general and special education teacher,
  Exceptional Children, Vol. 75, No. 1, pp. 55-70.
• Chambers, C., Wehmeyer, M., Saito, Y., Lida, K.,
  Lee, Y., Singhs, V. (2007), Self-determination
  What do we know? Where do we go? Exceptionality,
  15(1), pp. 3-15.
• Council for Exceptional Children, Special
  Education Professional Standards at
  http//www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Pro
  fessionalDevelopment/ProfessionalStandards/Red_boo
  k_5th_edition.pdf
• Covey, Sean. (1997) 7 habits of highly effective
  teens. New York, NY, Franklin Covey Inc.
• Fullan, M. (2001), Leading in a culture of
  change. San Francisco Jossey-Bass.
• Greene, T. (2007). Im Tyler. Waterloo, IA
  Author. http//www.imtyler.org/

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References Continued

• Hock, M., Schumaker, J., Deshler, D. (2003)
  Possible selves Nurturing student motivation,
  Lawrence, Kansas Edge Enterprises, Inc.
• Peebles, M. E., (2008, November). The trophy kids
  grow up How the millennial generation is shaking
  up the workforce Review of the book The trophy
  kids grow up. Harvard Business Review.
• Paraschiv, Irina. (2000). Self-determination,
  self-advocacy, and the role of the professional/
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina Center for
  Development and Learning, University of North
  Carolina. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
  ED346082)
• Partnership for 21St Century Skills at
  www.21stcenturyskills.org
• Pausch, Randy. (2007) The last lecture at
  http//abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id5462447
  

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References Continued
Wehmeyer, Michael, L. (2007). Promoting
self-determination in students with developmental
disabilities. New York NY The Guilford Press.
West Virginia 21st Century Framework for High
Performing 21st Century High Schools retrieved on
November 8, 2008 at http//wvde.state.wv.us/21stce
nturydigitalresource/PDF20High20School20Framewo
rk.pdf