Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Seventy-six teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing within a western state of the United States were surveyed to explore their perceptions of the (a) importance of self-determination, (b) skills taught to students, (c) skills used by students, and (d) benefits associated with teaching self-determination. Results indicated that teachers believed self-determination to be important, however, may not intentionally teach those identified skills. For example, 96% reported that problem solving was an important component of self-determination, 87% taught this skill to students, and 74% observed students using problem solving in the classroom. Basic statistics (frequencies, medians, means, and standard deviations) were used to analyze how participants responded and aided in establishing an overall picture of teachers’ perceptions. Reliabilities were established in the design of the instrument. Finally, multiple response items were analyzed using cross-tabulations presented as percentages. Findings suggest that more investigation is needed regarding the discrepancies among self-determination skills identified, taught, and used.