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Self-concept and intrinsic versus extrinsic orientation of deaf secondary students in different educational settings Van Gurp, Susan Ann

Abstract

With the move toward de-segregation of all special groups of students, more deaf students are attending regular school classes and some segregated schools have closed. Resource programs located in regular schools continue to grow and new programs, such as the "congregated"-setting, have been established. In order to make informed decisions regarding future program development and student placement, current research is needed. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of these educational settings on the self-concept and intrinsic / extrinsic (I/E) orientation of deaf secondary students. Previous research examining self-concept of deaf students in different school settings is more than 15 years old and used measures based on a uni-dimensional theory. The current study is the first to examine specific dimensions of self-concept using a multidimensional measure and the I/E orientation of this special population. Therefore, relationships among dimensions of these constructs were investigated. In this study, the Self-Description Questionnaire (Marsh, 1986) and the Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom (Harter, 1980) were linguistically modified and sign language videos produced for those using sign communication. Ninety-one students from segregated, congregated, resource, and itinerant programs participated in the present study. Examining dimensions of self-concept, the results identified academic advantages in attending resource programs and social advantages in attending segregated settings. The lower scores of those attending the congregated setting may be due to the fact that this setting has recently been established and the students are experiencing negative effects of the change from a small segregated school to a large one in which they are a minority. Overall, deaf students who are integrated with hearing students have a more internal orientation and better self-perceptions of reading ability. Continued research is warranted to replicate these findings and to determine if the largely negative results from the congregated setting are merely an artifact of transition. Additional analyses with subsamples of deaf students found no significant differences between those with deaf or those with hearing parents, nor between those using aural/oral or sign communication in any dimension of self-concept or I/E orientation.

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