Personalised Planning and Self- Determination for Students with Special Needs

Liz Horrocks
Leigh Burrows
Australia

In the process of review and reform relating to the educational needs of students with disabilities and learning difficulties and disabilities in South Australia, a new personalised planning tool has been developed. The key success factors of this personalised education plan are connected with recent reforms of learning, curriculum and pedagogy and continue to change and develop as part of a dynamic process. All the key stakeholders in this process: students, parents and educators, benefit from an holistic approach that begins with the student, involving him or her in planning their own learning: developing self determination skills, strengthening student/teacher/parent communications and helping to motivate students to reach their full potential.

Individualisation in special education is not new. Over a hundred and thirty years ago Dr Edouard Seguin (1866) discussed individualising education for children with special needs. Dr Sequin wrote that: "….the individuality of the children is to be secured, for respect of individuality is the first test of the fitness of a teacher….(individual planning) will secure the sanctity of true originality against the violent sameness of that most considerable part of education, the general training" (p 26).

This was a plea to include individual planning in teacher training so that uniqueness of the learner could be accommodated and was acknowledgment of the fact that learners' needs differ. 100 years later, John Dewey's philosophy of American Education had a profound affect on educators. Dewey wrote that each child is 'entitled to equal opportunity of development of his own capacities, be they large or small in range, each has needs of his own, as significant to him as those of others are to them"(Abernathy 1959, p254).

In recognition of this a personalised education plan process has the potential to be an agent of change in the process of self-determination for students and to involve parents and teachers. This journey began in the Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) in South Australia where IEP's for students with disabilities were called Negotiated Curriculum Plans (NCP's). A process of change and innovation in the development of individual education plans has been occurring for more than a decade and while initially the priorities were to establish more effective teamwork and parent participation, now that parents are more involved in the process, the emphasis has shifted. In this climate of collaboration, it is timely to consider the importance and value of student voice in the learning process.

The importance of student voice is underscored in the literature relating to IEPs in Britain and the United States of America. Research into the Wraparound Process (Eber and Nelson 1997) also shows that focusing on the involvement of students will lead to better outcomes. Valuable elements of the Wraparound process include a focus on the needs and strengths of students, lateral thinking, collaboration, family access, voice and ownership. Further research into the involvement of students as decision makers in regard to their own learning needs has been conducted by Garner (1995) on the Code of Practice (DfE). The Code of Practice has five stages of assessment and provision which move from the individual classroom level to the school level, to the involvement of external support agencies and finally to a formalised external assessment and statement process. The Code of Practice states that schools should consider how they: involve students in decision making processes; determine their level of participation; record their views and involve students in implementing individual education plans. Garner is concerned that in reality the Code does very little to include the opinion of students with regard to their future educational priorities and development.

We believe that the personalised education plan developed in South Australia is already demonstrating its potential as an extremely valuable tool to facilitate the development of self determination skills in students with disabilities and learning difficulties/learning disabilities.