The self-advocacy project: empowering elementary educators to teach self-advocacy skills

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Issue Date
2021
Authors
Costello, Wendy P.
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Abstract
While the literature is clear that teaching students with exceptionalities how to self-advocate leads to better life outcomes, self-determination and self-advocacy instruction is not happening enough in schools. Studies show that educators value self-determination and self-advocacy skills, but barriers to instruction, including a lack of teacher training, inadequate skills, and unfamiliarity with the concepts of self-determination and self-advocacy, make it difficult to teach. Despite this, self-determination and self-advocacy skills can be taught to students and this instruction needs to start earlier, in elementary school. Models such as the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction and The Self-Advocacy Strategy can be adapted to teach self awareness, problem solving, decision making, goal setting, communication, and leadership skills to elementary students. The IEP process is also a powerful instructional strategy that can be used to teach elementary students with exceptionalities how to self-advocate and become more self-determined. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, this applied project aims to deepen educator knowledge of self-determination and self-advocacy to promote self-advocacy instruction for students with exceptionalities in elementary school. Educators will learn about the component skills of self-determination and self-advocacy; create a strength-based, person-centered, competency-based IEP that fully engages the student in IEP planning, goal setting and assessment; and finally, collaboratively plan how to embed self-advocacy IEP objectives in whole class self-advocacy instruction for all students, in elementary school.
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