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Journal article

Designing a Training Programme to Promote the Exercise of Self-Determination and Civic Engagement in Individuals Having an Intellectual Disability : Feedback on Collaborative Research

    2017
Published in:
  • Creative Education. - 2017, vol. 8, no. 6, p. 975-992
Self-Determination
Civic Engagement
Intellectual Disability
Collaborative Research
English Individual self-determination and civic engagement are key resources in the life of every individual. All the more so in the case of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID), who are frequently prevented, voluntarily or passively (for example through the failure to promote favourable conditions for learning), from implementing the resources that are required for acquiring and developing these skills. The importance of being able to apply these skills in everyday life is however acknowledged and encouraged by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). This article presents and analyses the conditions for vertical and horizontal collaboration (Greenhalgh et al., 2004), which have contributed to the successful introduction of an educational approach to self-determination and active citizenship in a social care establishment for individuals having a mild to moderate ID. The research was conducted over two years (2014-2016) within the framework of a partnership between the establishment concerned and academic researchers. The principal stakeholders involved in the research, including 16 individuals with an ID, 13 educational care professionals, 4members of the managerial staff and 4 research workers, worked together to promote the adoption of principles of self-determination and civic engagement within the establishment, and designed a training programme aimed at individuals with an ID and professional support staff. The effectiveness of the intervention mechanism applied by this team has been verified and validated using a pre- and post-test evaluation, the results of which have appeared in a separate publication. A qualitative analysis of the collaboration conditions indicates, and on first sight this may appear paradoxical, that individual self-determination and its implementation are most successful when supported by a close-knit community, based on meaningful interdependence and mutually dependent relationships.
Faculty
Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
Department
Département de Pédagogie spécialisée
Language
  • English
Classification
Special education
License
License undefined
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/309417
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