Student-directed Learning

This practical text (written by Martin Agran with original chapters contributed by a number of experts in the field) provides an in-depth focus on strategies classroom teachers can use to help students with mild to severe disabilities learn how to manage their own behavior in the classroom. Agrans approach is based on current research that shows that self-management can be as, if not more, effective as teacher-directed instruction because it empowers students by allowing them to be actively involved in their own instruction and educational decision making. At the same time, it can reduce hostility and conflict between teacher and child. Self-determination or student-directed learning is one of the major paradigmatic shifts in special education, and this book is one of the first to advance this change.