Research of Self-determination for high school and vocational high school students with mental retardation

• Main Authors: Liu Pei-Chia, 劉佩嘉
• Other Authors: Lin Hung-Chih
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/91966065357733295111

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 特殊教育研究所 === 92 === ABSTRACT With the rethinking of the disappointing outcomes for youth with mental retardation upon graduation from secondary education and the legislation and requirement of laws, self-determination had attracted widespread attention and been regarded as an important educational transition outcome for students with mental retardation receiving special education services in America. However, as for our country, there was certainly an improvement on the emphasis of self-determination that we should make efforts. Therefore, this research examined the current conditions and factors concerning and affecting self-determination for 12th grade high school and vocational high school students with mental retardation in Taiwan through survey. Through a review of existing literature and interviews with experts in special education, a data collection instrument based on psychology and Maslow’s “Need-Hierarchy Theory “ was developed and contained the following five domains: basic physical needs, safety needs, love and belongingness needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Results were reported in terms of personal factors (gender, age, level of mental retardation, and the ranking of siblings at home), family and society factors ( social-economic status, structure of family, attitude of the primary caregiver towards children)and school factors, which contained region of school, attitude of teachers towards students, what is IEP/ITP and the requirement of signature on IEP/ITP. The survey on self-determination was conducted through stratified sampling with 100 12th grade high school and vocational high school students with mental retardation in Taiwan, which was divided into the following three regions: north, center, and south. Of 100 subjects, 9 were excluded for the differences of label of disabilities and 91 were selected as formal study samples. Data were then analyzed through frequency, mean, standard deviation, one way analysis of variance, and stepwise multiple regression. The results indicated that: 1. The current conditions of self-determination Though performing slightly below the average of self-determination on the needs of love and belongingness and the needs of self-esteem, the current 12th high school and vocational high school students with mental retardation still scored high on the scale and had a good self-determination as a whole. 2. The differences of self-determination on different background variables were as follows: (1) In terms of self-determination on the needs of self-actualization, there was a significant difference between level of mental retardation. (2) As for other domains, there were no significant differences between variables. 3. With regard to self-determination and its predictability factors, the findings were as follows: (1) In terms of self-determination on basic physical needs, only the region of school was significantly correlated with their self-determination. (2) In terms of self-determination on the needs of self-actualization, only region of school and level of mental retardation were significantly correlated with their self-determination. (3) As for other domains and the whole scale, none was predictable and significantly correlated with their self-determination. Thus, recommendations were offered concerning the implications of these findings for self-determination and future research.