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State-promoted biodiversity conservation can either align with or diverge from Indigenous Peoples’ priorities, knowledge, and self-determined development paths. Drawing on fieldwork at the Amazon borders of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, this paper examines Indigenous organizations’ efforts to uphold territorial rights and pursue planning with Indigenous values in landscapes earmarked for conservation. The key question centers on how ‘border configurations’ affect grassroots planning and conservation focusing on the experience of Peruvian Secoya (Siékopai) People. Using expert interviews and ethnographic methods, the paper finds that conservation agencies risk losing credibility without genuine efforts toward social equity and well-being, constrained by mandates that often neglect local needs. The success of Life Plans depends on solidarity networks that balance conservation with viable economic alternatives, equitable power dynamics, and access to services. Ultimately, the paper shows that Life Plans empower Indigenous organizations, offering meaningful options for political self-representation within Amazonian conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to analyse the differences in the International Foundation Programmes in Australia, China and the United Kingdom and to explore different University Foundation Programmes' effect on international student satisfaction, learning motivation and their performance in higher education. Through this research, it can be seen that improving the interaction between teachers and international students in the foundation stage, helping international students establish a certain sense of belonging, and integrating into the local culture is considered a key factor in improving foundation students' learning motivation and their satisfaction. The discussion of the research results suggests that some countries with imperfect international foundation courses should establish a more diverse curriculum system and hold highly interactive cultural activities to make it easier for students to integrate into the local culture, so as to help international students maintain a positive initiative and attitude when entering undergraduate studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopolitical transformations have drastic effects in many spheres of public life. Their most prominent manifestations are observed with regard to ethno-political conflicts and their settlement processes, particularly when they are accompanied by serious regional rearrangements. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the process of its settlement are among the most typical cases in this regard. After the 2018 change of power in Armenia, the normally developing process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement within the framework of the main principles of international law ended up in sharp upheavals, succumbing to the logic of the sharply heated West-Russia geopolitical confrontation. The formation of antagonistic relations between the Co-Chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group undermined their mediation efforts, leaving two options for the resolution of the conflict: the realization of people's right to self-determination with the support of international community or the genocide of the Nagorno-Karabakh people. The article considers the threats of a catastrophic development of events due to changes in the positions of powerful actors regarding the conflict settlement under the influence of geopolitical transformations, as well as the possibility of preventing such a development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAimMethodResultsInterpretation\nIMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONTo achieve expert consensus on optimal child-led goal setting and evaluation practices for school-aged children (5 ≤ 17 years) who have a disability or delay.A three-round, eDelphi consensus design was used. In Round 1, expert allied health professionals identified factors important during child-led goal setting for: (i) planning, (ii) process steps and tools, and (iii) support strategies. Factors were collated into items for Rounds 2 and 3. Participants rated item agreement on a 7-point Likert scale. Consensus was determined as ≥75% of participants in agreement or disagreement.Sixty professionals from nine countries and six disciplines participated. Of 323 unique items generated, 159 (50%) reached consensus. Strong agreement was reached for goal setting and evaluation “process steps” and “support strategies” to engage children. It was strongly recommended that allied health professionals should tailor their processes to each child’s individual needs, provide ability-specific strategies and resources, and empower children to share their perspectives. Fewer items reached consensus for “planning” and “tools” to guide child-led goal setting.Professional experts agree that children can be actively involved in goal setting and evaluation. Future research should focus on tools and technologies to support child-led goal setting for children with diverse abilities.Professionals agree that children should be involved in goal setting to the greatest extent possible.Children’s readiness to participate relates to their cognition, communication, social-emotional skills, and motivation.The goal setting process should be personalised and accessible for children.Child-specific tools are needed to support children to share their perspectives.Professionals agree that children should be involved in goal setting to the greatest extent possible.Children’s readiness to participate relates to their cognition, communication, social-emotional skills, and motivation.The goal setting process should be personalised and accessible for children.Child-specific tools are needed to support children to share their perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a relatively understudied topic in the literature of Cypriot political history, namely the relations between Cyprus and African countries during the Makarios era. Drawing upon the official archives of the UN, USA, UK, and the Republic of Cyprus (specifically the Press and Information Office, PIO, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MFA), as well as Cypriot newspapers, this research is grounded in historical analysis. The main findings of the paper suggest that Makarios perceived the Zurich-London status quo in Cyprus as contrary to principles such as self-determination, democracy, independence, and sovereignty, prompting him to engage in an international struggle for change. Makarios’s attitudes towards Cyprus aligned with African countries’ collective struggle under frameworks such as AAPSO, the Non-Aligned Movement, and G-77, both for themselves and the rest of the world. In various international forums, notably the United Nations, Cyprus and African nations provided mutual support against Western imperialism. Their collaboration extended beyond the Cyprus Problem to encompass the rights of people struggling for independence against colonialism all around the world and those seeking democracy in the face of racist regimes in Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secession referendums can help to resolve the tension between self-determination and state sovereignty. Nevertheless, not all state governments accept holding such consultations in collaboration with secessionist movements. This article tackles this issue by focusing on the determinants of agreed and non-agreed upon independence referendums. Through a statistical analysis based on a dataset of independence referendums held in liberal democracies from 1945 to 2022 (N = 70), we demonstrate that the decision of the parent state's government to agree to an independence referendum depends on two factors. The first is the perception of competition and/or electoral proximity to the referendum demand. The second depends on the expectation of the low cost of an eventual secession – at least in terms of population, area and natural resources. Accordingly, we propose a general model designed to predict the disposition of a liberal democracy to agree to an independence referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjective: The purpose of this study was to utilize self-determination theory (SDT) incorporating the person-environment contextual factors as a framework to examine how the SDT factors may interact with functional disability and contextual factors to influence well-being for students with disabilities in higher education. Methods and participants: A quantitative descriptive design utilizing a convenience sample of 210 students with disabilities in higher education was used. Results: The final regression model accounted for 64% of the variance in well-being. When controlling for all other predictor variables in the model, functional disability, autonomy, learning competence, and relatedness were found to be predictive of well-being, with autonomy being the strongest predictor of well-being, followed by relatedness, learning competence, and functional disability. Conclusion: This study offers critical insights for higher education institutions, emphasizing the need for fostering environments that prioritize autonomy, competence, and relatedness to promote the well-being of students with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of life (QoL) has been extensively studied within the field of intellectual disability, with various theoretical frameworks being developed to guide the provision of appropriate supports in daily life. However, the role that self-determination can play in the QoL of adolescents with intellectual disability has received little attention. This study explores the impact of personal characteristics (age, gender, intellectual disability level, and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder) and the context-related variable of self-determination on QoL, overall and at domain level, in 100 adolescents with intellectual disability in a single school. The KidsLife scale of QoL and the AUTODDIS scale of self-determination were applied, with the participants' teachers acting as respondents. The variable of self-determination had the highest influence on QoL, being positively related to all the domains under investigation. A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was positively related with Personal Development, Material Well-being, and Social Inclusion domains. Intellectual disability severity only had a negative relationship with QoL total level when not considered simultaneously with self-determination. We discuss the role that self-determination plays in the quality of life of youth with intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nPoints of interestLesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) people with intellectual disability face unique challenges in asserting their identities. We aim to understand how Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals with intellectual disability exercise self-determination within disability services. Eight LGBTQ adults with intellectual disability who used disability services participated in qualitative interviews. Fifteen key informants, representing government policy makers, disability service organisations, gender and sexuality educators, and senior leaders of LGBTQ organisations were also interviewed. We found that LGBTQ people with intellectual disability navigate barriers to self-determination: making autonomous decisions about their sexualities or gender identities; coming out and being recognised as LGBTQ; and gaining a sense of belonging in both disability and LGBTQ spaces. We suggest organisational-level actions including: (1) building organisational awareness; (2) including sexuality and gender identities in person centred support planning; and (3) increasing access to positive visual representations and experiences of pride.This research is important because it highlights the need for disability organisations to support LGBTQ people intellectual disability to live self-determined lives.LGBTQ people with intellectual disability do not have access to LGBTQ peers and education. This makes it difficult to develop LGBTQ identity.Disability service organisations generally do not encourage people with intellectual disability come out to the people around them including support workers.Disability service organisations should think about people’s sexuality and gender identities when choosing how to support them.Experiences of pride events can help people feel like they belong.LGBTQ people with intellectual disability can be reliant on disability service organisations for information and support services.This research is important because it highlights the need for disability organisations to support LGBTQ people intellectual disability to live self-determined lives.LGBTQ people with intellectual disability do not have access to LGBTQ peers and education. This makes it difficult to develop LGBTQ identity.Disability service organisations generally do not encourage people with intellectual disability come out to the people around them including support workers.Disability service organisations should think about people’s sexuality and gender identities when choosing how to support them.Experiences of pride events can help people feel like they belong.LGBTQ people with intellectual disability can be reliant on disability service organisations for information and support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the impostor phenomenon (IP) is rapidly growing in medical education due to its relationship with distress and burnout. How IP is theoretically conceptualized and analyzed has been inconsistent, however, which limits our understanding of results and how to act on them. We hypothesized that a person-centered analysis, in combination with a robust theoretical framework, would provide a more specific 'profile' of medical student IP and help to optimize supports for their well-being. We used exploratory factor analysis to assess the factor structure of the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) in medical students, followed by cluster analysis to identify distinct 'impostor' profiles, based on the identified factors. We then used self-determination theory's (SDT) framework of motivation to explore how students in each profile differed in their general causality orientation, autonomous motivation towards going to medical school, and psychological need satisfaction in the medical program – factors that SDT identifies as predictors of engagement, performance, and well-being. Factor analysis yielded three main IP factors – feeling like a fake, attributing success to luck, and discounting achievement – in line with Clance's original definition of IP. The cluster analysis then identified four distinct IP profiles based on individual differences in these factors, each varying in aspects of their self-determination. This study sheds light on the ways that medical students may experience IP, further reinforcing the notion that not all 'impostors' are created equal. Findings support the three-factor structure of the CIPS among medical students, and that most students will fall into one of four IP profiles. These profiles and their implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cornerstone of inclusive education is teacher's readiness to respond adequately to different educational needs of students in their diverse classroom. Differentiated instruction, referring to the process by which teachers carefully monitor students' needs and progress, and adapt their instruction according to these differences, is a means to meet the needs of students of different levels. High-quality differentiated instruction is a complex process for teachers which needs careful preparation. This makes teachers' intentions relating to differentiated instruction particularly relevant. In this article we compare two theoretical models to explain teachers' intentions to differentiate: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Self-determination theory (SDT). Secondary school teachers (n = 180) responded to a questionnaire in which we measured their intentions and predictor variables relating to both of the theoretical models. Linear regression showed that both the TPB as well as the SDT model significantly predicted teachers' intentions (p <.01), but that the TPB model showed a better fit with the data (48 versus 32% explained variance). We conclude that in addition to the factors included in the TPB, autonomy might be a relevant factor in explaining teachers'intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although numerous technology-based assistive devices are available for use by people with intellectual disabilities, device adoption rates of are often low. The current research examined reasons for non-adoption among two samples of people with mild intellectual disabilities focusing on transportation: an area of great concern for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The influences on adoption or non-adoption of the perceived benefits of assistive devices were assessed together with the effects of device complexity, transportation self-efficacy, desire for self-determination regarding transport, technophobia, and the desire to be seen to "fit in" with wider society when wearing a device. Interviews were conducted with 44 people attending a support venue in southwest London. Outcomes to the interviews were employed in the formation of a questionnaire distributed to a wider national sample of people with mild intellectual disabilities. Interview and survey questions were created using Tourangeau's investigation method. Responses to the survey were subjected to a logistic regression analysis. Technophobia, transportation self-efficacy and desires for self-determination and to "fit-in" exerted powerful impacts on device adoption. Campaigns and activities designed to increase adoption rates need to recognise these important influences. Encouraging people with intellectual disabilities to adopt assistive technologies is highly desirable because of the latter's ability improve a person's quality of life. Government and manufacturers as well as carers have critical roles to play in securing device adoption. Training of individuals and their carers in device features and application is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of climate change has led to (among other things) numerous attempts at developing the groundwork for a 'just transition' – typically understood as a fair, equitable and considered shift to a low-carbon future. This paper contends that just transitions will succeed only if they are defined (at least in part) as building genuine partnerships with Indigenous and/or other local communities. Relationship-building is an essential aspect of all policy and development, but its pursuit and realisation requires time and care. Sometimes this requirement is viewed as coming into conflict with the urgency needed for action against climate change now. How we navigate this perceived conflict remains essential. By viewing just transitions as opportunities to address ongoing injustices by designing them together with Indigenous and/or other local communities, states will commit to both (1) respectful and just collaboration with local communities in this process, and (2) enabling these communities to meet socio-environmental responsibilities through (context-dependent) practices of care. By doing this, not only will states get closer to realising socio-environmental justice, but they will finally begin to recognise and enable the widespread responsibility-taking towards which any just transition must aim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political philosophy has long treated the nation-state as the starting point for normative inquiry, while paying little attention to the ongoing legacies of colonialism and imperialism. But given how most modern states emerged, normative discussions about migration, for example, need to engage with the colonial and imperial history of state immigration controls, citizenship practices, and the nation-state more generally. This article critically reviews three historical studies by Adom Getachew, Radhika Mongia, and Nandita Sharma that engage in depth with this history. The studies historicize concepts that are central to discussions in political philosophy: the categories of citizen and migrant, the concept of 'nationality,' and the principle of self-determination. I argue that this historicized form of conceptual analysis helps us challenge the default authority of concepts that are deeply embedded in the political structures that we inhabit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I defend the claim that addressing dominating ontologies is crucial for achieving Indigenous self-determination. Consequently, the struggle for Indigenous self-determination comprises not only an engagement with political practices, structures, and institutions, but also with political ontology. I first argue that implementing Indigenous self-determination requires an engagement with political ontology. I then introduce Iris Young's conception of self-determination as non-domination as a way to engage with diverging ontologies within the political framework of federalism. In the final section of the paper, I present two constructive proposals concerning how Indigenous peoples and settler states can establish an ontology at the federal level that facilitates Indigenous self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educators teaching at community-engaged universities can benefit from learning best practices to prepare 21st century citizens. This case study explores why undergraduate students in an online volunteer management course select an organization to complete a community-engaged learning activity. Theory-based teaching strategies integrating the characteristics of quality community-engaged learning are outlined. Qualitative analysis of student reflections resulted in six categories representing student choices including: social connections, exploring interests, positive human connection, organizational engagement, aligning values, and commitment to the cause. The lessons learned can help educators enhance students' learning by nurturing diverse community connections, establishing student-centered course goals, and constructing significant learning strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are secessionisms from and within the EU comparable? What motivates them and to what extent do they pose similar challenges to EU territorial governance? This article addresses these questions by comparing the framing of the British Leave campaign and the Catalan independence movement. Drawing on the FraTerr database and method, the analysis suggests that secessionism from the EU and secessionism within the EU are different political phenomena despite sharing an emphasis on sovereignty and the common goal of breaking-up from an existing polity. Secessionism from the EU is primarily a call for the recovery of lost sovereignty and of classical functions of the state such as border control. Secessionism within the EU invokes sovereignty as the right to external self-determination and adds narratives around a better future and greater democratic quality and social justice. These two types of secessionism pose different challenges to EU territorial governance because the first entails a full rejection of the European project while the latter calls for a review of European multi-level governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the post-9/11 event has animated how state actors frame terrorism, contemporary studies have failed to address the politics inherent in proscribing, repressing, and labeling separatist movements as terrorists. This paper explores the politics of framing terrorism using the contemporary self-determination struggles advanced by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Yoruba Nation's freedom frontiers. The study proposes a United Nations-coordinated global framework for regulating and evaluating states' activities in identifying specific groups as terrorists. Taking such a stance would prevent aggrieved agitators from being persecuted by the state in the name of terror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine changes in self-determination associated with youth participation in residential immersive life skills (RILS) programs. In this prospective mixed methods study, the Arc's Self-Determination Scale was administered pre- and post-program, and at 3- and 12-month follow-ups, to 27 RILS youth and a comparison group of 11 youth enrolled in a non-residential life skills program. Ten RILS youth were interviewed 3 and 12 months post-program, with content analysis used to explore changes in autonomy, self-realization, and psychological empowerment. RILS youth showed statistically significant increases in autonomy immediately after the program, which were maintained one year later, whereas the comparison group displayed increased autonomy only at 3 months post-program. Qualitatively, RILS youth emphasized changes in behavioral autonomy and psychological empowerment 3 months post-program, whereas at one year there was greater emphasis on changes in self-realization. Using a triangulation protocol, the mixed methods data were interpreted as showing agreement regarding changes in autonomy due to intervention, partial agreement regarding self-realization, and dissonance regarding psychological empowerment. RILS programs can enhance the autonomy of youth with physical disabilities and contribute to their sense of confidence and understanding of themselves as they move forward in life. The findings suggest the importance of the immersive, away-from-home component of residential immersive life skills programs in enhancing the autonomy of youth with disabilities Youth reported changes in their level of autonomy after attending residential immersive life skills programs, as well as feeling more confident in living on their own Residential immersive life skills programs can contribute to youth's understanding of themselves as they transition to adulthood [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One key achievement of European colonialism is the attempt to introduce the institutions of Westphalia-model state to Africa. However, deprived of the imperative necessities for the development of a sound national spirit required for nations which have only recently come to self-consciousness, the modern state structure is not serviceable in Africa. Despite all that has been written about it, the failings of state-building in Africa remain widely misunderstood. Some, in particular the governments in the African state and their apologists, attribute it almost exclusively to external debacles. Others attribute it, almost entirely, to developmental policy failure. The paper argues, from the emblematic cases, that it is the product of an explosive mix of the two. The paper concludes that the unprogressive nature of the African state mirrors, among others, citizens’ selective inaction but now, to move the continent forward, the African peoples must take proper ownership of their societies to forge responsive nation-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reconstructs the place of 'self-determination' and its conjunct, 'minorities' rights,' as legal languages in the history of Iraq from the British occupation until its League of Nations-supervised independence in 1932. While historians understand the development of the Arab-led mandatory regime and its relationship to international, League-mediated politics, the potential for the politics of 'self-determination' to have created radically different geopolitical outcomes, particularly in the northern, heterogeneous province of Mosul, has only recently been acknowledged. Rather than treat self-determination as an analytical category, this article begins from the perspective of the concept's novelty in the Middle East in 1918. State-building in Iraq through independence, I argue, depended on manipulating the doctrinal slippages between 'self-determination' and 'minorities' rights' as much as it did on institutional processes. Through the emergence of the mandatory regime and in two critical League Council decisions – the Mosul territorial arbitration of 1925 and Iraqi independence proceedings in 1932 – the nascent Arab state, the British Empire, and the inhabitants of Mosul contested the meaning of self-determination. Their arguments had far-reaching implications, some unintended, for the shape of inter-war international politics and constitute an important – and earlier – episode in the interplay between decolonisation and the centring of the nation-state in international law in the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All Commonwealth summit communiqués from the late 1960s through to the mid-1990s maintained a focus on the Palestinian conflict and highlighted approaches that could lead to its just resolution. Whilst pressure peaked in the late 1970s and 1980s, the most significant issue – potential Palestinian membership – arose only in 1997. A decision was deferred and Palestine has not been mentioned in summit communiqués since. Continued disengagement has dovetailed with a time-shrunken summit and resource-depleted Commonwealth Secretariat. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth can and should re-engage by providing a realistic roadmap (including Secretariat support) for Palestinian membership that benchmarks internal standards but is not dependent on Israeli or similar factors outside the Palestinian Authority's direct control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the under-examined history of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities responded to HIV and AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s. When HIV emerged as a public health threat in Australia, Indigenous healthcare workers and community leaders developed and delivered health promotion programs that were highly successful in preventing the spread of the virus among their communities. These programs drew on the political principles of self-determination and community control, fought for by the Black activism of the preceding decades. This article follows the story of one healthcare worker, Aunty Gracelyn Smallwood, who was instrumental in advocating for and implementing the grassroots Indigenous response to the virus. A proud Birrigubba, Kalkadoon and South Sea Islander woman and registered nurse, Aunty Gracelyn's outspoken advocacy took her from her hometown of Townsville all the way to the highest offices of Australia's AIDS response, where she helped shape and implement a world-leading approach to HIV and AIDS prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article was to explore, from the perspective of students and graduates with disabilities, the skills that are necessary to be self-determined at university, why these are important, and how they can be developed to remain in university and graduate successfully. A systematic review, including 16 qualitative studies with a total of 303 participants, was carried out. The results provide information on: essential skills to facilitate self-determination and successful completion of university studies (problem-solving skills, learning about oneself, goal setting, self-management, self-advocacy) and attributes (autonomy, resilience, and empowerment); the reasons for being self-determined at university (achieving academic goals, overcoming barriers, demonstrating abilities, self-confidence, and academic success); and how self-determination can be learned at university (trial and error; family, faculty and peers; disability services; peers; specific programmes; and information technology communication). The conclusions are encouraging and show that self-determination can be learned in universities with the necessary supports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation is argued to be a critical predictor of language learning success, but it is not clear whether motivation is equally relevant across compulsory and optional language education contexts. This study explored the motivation of adolescent Anglophone students of other languages across secondary school year groups with a particular interest in the impact of choice and curricular structure. Based on Self-Determination Theory, we developed a model that maintains that perceptions of autonomy support predict learners' sense of autonomy, in turn enhancings motivation. Through a survey of 1775 students aged 11-16, we tested whether this model holds for learners from different year groups, and in later years, across those in schools with and without mandatory language education. We found that all learners reported less autonomy frustration and were more likely to report a more autonomous form of language learning motivation if they perceived their language teacher as autonomy-supportive, but that as learners progressed through school perceptions of autonomy support declined. Further, we found that motivation was strongly associated with curriculum policies providing choice. These differences in motivational profiles across year group have implications for how teachers might support students' across different years and for programmatic adaptations that might facilitate students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinically significant psychological distress affects approximately 29.3% of Australian adolescents and 80.6% of sexuality and/or gender diverse youth (SGD-Y). Often, SGD-Y experience inadequate access and lower satisfaction with mental health services, stemming from age- and sexuality and/or gender diversity-status. Accordingly, exploration of factors affecting SGD-Y’s access to, and satisfaction with, mental health services is critical. Using a social constructionist lens, we explored factors supporting SGD-Y’s satisfaction with mental health services, and how these needs are or could be met. Seven LGBTQA+ youth aged 15 to 21 who received counseling in Western Australia in the last year, recruited via a university student participant pool and community organizations, participated in semi-structured interviews via video-conference, phone call, or SMS. Reflexive thematic analysis was inductively applied to participants’ verbatim accounts. Satisfaction was tied to participants’ sense of control over their healthcare-system experiences, shaped by four themes: person-centered support during the service-access process, resources to guide the search for services, confidence in therapists, and healthcare-system organization. Practices and policies supporting SGD-Y’s self-determination during their service access may allow for empowering and personally meaningful therapeutic experiences. Developers of policies and initiatives may need to adopt a systems approach to foster SGD-Y’s self-determination as they access services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFaced with a more multipolar world, scholars of International Political Economy are sharpening their tools to make sense of the longue durée of post-colonial institutions, international financial subordination and the quest for self-determination. This article develops the notion of ‘earnest struggles’ in Senegal’s postcolonial history and shows that successive governments have indeed tried to move their country forward against the odds. The focus is on three struggles: First, the attempts at transforming the Senegalese economy away from colonial cash crops and the influence of the French from 1960 to 1980. Second, the struggle of grappling with Global South debt crisis and the devaluation of the Franc CFA by 50% between 1980 to 2004. Third, the struggle to expand the Senegalese economy with newfound fiscal space and novel forms of external debt since international debt relief in 2004 until today. Based on financial data and interviews in Dakar and Paris, I argue that these struggles have led to some structural transformation. However, the danger of debt crisis has not gone, and economic self-determination has remained precarious. Dependence on foreign finance has stayed and reached record levels in recent years. Relative delinking and the search for regional complementarities offers a more promising avenue to break out of the structural condition of international financial subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the inadequate recognition and integration of the strengths of Indigenous1 people in direct practice, policy development, and research. To address this concern, I present an Indigenous strengths-based theoretical framework designed to recognise and illuminate the diverse strengths inherent in Indigenous people and communities. The ongoing structure of colonisation often presents challenges for practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and others collaborating with Indigenous people to adopt a strengths-based approach. Unfortunately, well-intentioned collaborators, especially non-Indigenous allies, often succumb to deficit-based thinking and simplistic binary comparative analysis. This article draws inspiration from Dennis Saleebey's (2023) six-step, strengths-based approach, integrating it with a micro, meso, and macro framework and Indigenous Standpoint Theory. The result is an Indigenous strengths-based theoretical framework that embraces a strengths-based approach within the context of Indigenous cultures and world views. This framework fosters the identification and development of Indigenous strengths in a respectful and culturally safe manner.IMPLICATIONSA strengths-based approach must supersede the deficit discourse that continues to be a defining feature of how social workers, allied health professionals, researchers, and policymakers interact with Indigenous Australians.This article draws inspiration from Saleebey’s (2023. The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions. In Social work (pp. 230–235). Routledge) six-step approach to a strengths perspective, combined with a systems theory framework and an Indigenous standpoint, and can assist in (re)defining Indigenous strength-based practice.A strengths-based approach must supersede the deficit discourse that continues to be a defining feature of how social workers, allied health professionals, researchers, and policymakers interact with Indigenous Australians.This article draws inspiration from Saleebey’s (2023. The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions. In Social work (pp. 230–235). Routledge) six-step approach to a strengths perspective, combined with a systems theory framework and an Indigenous standpoint, and can assist in (re)defining Indigenous strength-based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the ongoing and destructive nature of invasion and settler-colonial institutions, laws and policies in Australia, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations continue to assert their sovereignty; exercise their inherent rights to self-determination as self-defined, autonomous peoples; and pursue collective aspirations in highly constrained and contested environments. Many nations are engaged in Indigenous nation (re)building (INB). One key INB strategy utilised by such nations is to use settler-colonial policy for their own collective ends. This article analyses the relationship between a complex and highly fraught settler-colonial legal-political system, native title, and INB processes in Australia. Using the 'Identify as a Nation, Organise as a Nation, Act as a Nation' framework, we explore some of the actual and potential relationships between the native title system and INB. Despite the considerable harms of the native title system on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we maintain that First Nations may be able to strategically engage in the system in a way that assists them to further their cultural and political autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schooling has been a site of harm for Indigenous people in settler colonial contexts, as a tool of dispossession, assimilation and separation from country and kin. However, schools have simultaneously been sites to work against this and build alternatives to settler colonial systems that nourish Indigenous futures. This article centers the connections between Indigenous labour, land, sovereignty and schooling. It focuses on the Strelley mob's innovative remodelling of schooling during the first phase of national Australian government policies of Indigenous self-determination and self-management between 1972 and 1983. Working with Indigenous-authored texts and oral histories, I explain how the Strelley mob and supporters worked to exploit and reshape schooling to bring together and sustain their communities on their land, developing a practice of local control over repossessed country with an Indigenised schooling system at the heart. I show how the tensions centred on five 'zones of contest' where the Strelley mob clashed with norms of settler state governance in schools. I suggest these zones – political economy; school sovereignty; knowledges, technologies and temporalities; language and linguistic power; and spaces and lands – may provide an analytical tool for situating contests over Indigenous schooling within wider contests over land, labour and sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes how Applied Theatre in creative workshops for persons with learning disabilities came to facilitate the development of a method for promoting self-determination through actualisation of empowerment. The study explores the lived experiences of self-determination in residents living in group homes, through co-creative processes of method development. The presented experiences are bi-findings to the original intent, resulting from an occurring process when urged to interview the institutionalised bearer of everyday oppression—The House—by using roleplay. This activity converted into a game, which when analysed, shed light upon fundamental elements underpinning a method for promoting self-determination. Self-determination is a human right, which allows all to make own decisions and live in line with own taste. Persons with learning disabilities in group homes often experience low self-determination. In the study the participant's tended to speak about the group-home as if the House itself was alive, and had power to decide over the residents. We used roleplay to interview the House and co-created a game to enhance empowerment. The game contributed in changing the participant's attitudes, from holding back to standing up for oneself. Working with theatre provided possibilities to experiment on alternative forms of action. Since we were just playing, the participants could allow themselves more. They could take lead of their own processes, and develop their own path at their own pace. Such creative group-work can thereby be a method to promote self-determination for persons with learning disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article dissects approaches to playfulness with persons with learning difficulties. It questions the intersection of dis/ability and play by reassessing (who determines) the role of play in people with dis/abilities' lives with a focus on discursive practices of belittlement and diagnosing, as well as the positive potential in play, such as empowerment in an inclusive game session. As part of an international research project, we facilitated an open play session and gathered data by recording it and the reflective discussions that followed. The research methodology follows a Grounded Theory approach, using Situational Analysis to map the empirical material. Initiating play and negotiating rules proved relevant throughout initial mapping. Additionally, the question of whether and how discursive practices of belittlement and diagnosing were reproduced, disrupted, and reassessed took centre stage. The findings show that both discursive practices of belittlement and positive potentials of play surfaced throughout the open play session. Play can break barriers and be practised inclusively. 'Powerful people tend to feel, do and say things in the way they are used to. In this article we call that 'dominant norms and discursive practices'. 'One of the things they are used to doing is to treat people with disabilities as children. We call that 'belittling'. We need to be alert and self-critical, without shame, in trying to feel, talk and act inclusively. Together we can change how we used to feel, do and say things and enable inclusion and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussion of learner autonomy has often been led by educationalists and policy makers. How do learners interpret the notion? This question, as well as addressing how students’ understandings compared to those of their instructors’ were the questions that the research sought to answer. The research undertook to explore the notion of the autonomous learner as understood by 115 students and 49 instructors at a select French higher education engineering school. Data was collected using open-ended questions and analysed using triangulation to reduce systemic bias via multiple qualitative data analysis methods. Four themes emerged from the analysis. Analyses pointed to similarities and to differences in the ways students and instructors understood the meaning of learner autonomy. Divergent perspectives that students and instructors had revealed that students were more concerned with their ability to compose their curricular programme and choose means to attain objectives. Instructors, on the other hand, were concerned with students’ course subject ownership. Recommendations to bridge understandings and help form a shared vision of goals when speaking of learner autonomy are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transgressive spirit, critical flair, and cultural power of Pacific grassroots movements are too often ignored or relegated to the footnotes within the discipline of Pacific history. Through a montage of creative and pedagogical campaigns, this article considers the Against Testing On Moruroa (ATOM) Committee in Fiji, and the regional Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement, as a nascent form of applied grassroots Pacific Studies. It then suggests that scholars ought to engage with the creative chronicle of social movements to make creative Pacific histories. Inspired by Fijian-Tongan poet and scholar Tagi Qolouvaki's invocation of 'activist art/story', this article then describes the author's creative practice-led research using audio documentary to recast the intellectual genealogy of critical Pacific Studies, discussing this movement as a foundational grassroots counter network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many decades, historians, researchers, and participants have documented the history of the nuclear era in the Pacific Islands. They have highlighted the legacy of health and environmental impacts of 50 years of nuclear testing by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France between 1946 and 1996. Most official histories of Pacific nuclear testing present extensive technical detail of the development of nuclear weapons, evidence of inter-departmental rivalries, and vivid portraits of the scientists who built the Bomb. This state-sponsored literature, however, makes limited reference to the lived experience of the civilian and military personnel who staffed the test sites, or the Indigenous peoples whose land and waters were used for the testing programmes in Oceania. Despite a growing international literature on the health and environmental impacts of nuclear testing, the history of Pacific Islander resistance to the nuclear testing programmes is more fragmentary. In response, the authors in this special issue have foregrounded the agency of Indigenous activists, rather than the Western allies who campaigned alongside the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement. Their contributions add to a growing body of personal testimony by Indigenous nuclear survivors and resisters from around Oceania. This special issue includes a 1954 petition from Marshall Islanders to the UN Trusteeship Council, an example of the protests by Islanders that began in the 1950s, pre-dating the rise of the wider NFIP movement in the 1970s. Other articles highlight Fiji's early foreign policy and the importance of the debate over nuclear testing in the formation of the South Pacific Forum; the importance of culture in Pacific anti-nuclear activism, through song, poetry, graphic design, and community theatre; the role of the regional NFIP movement in linking local struggles to the wider regional context, through pan-Pacific, Indigenous-led activism around self-determination; and connections between the NFIP movement and solidarity movements in the Global North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to replicate and resolve the paradox of work. This paradox makes it appear that intrinsic motivation functions differently based on the type of activity being performed, with productive activities having different patterns of relationships among predictor and subjective experience indices of intrinsic motivation than found in other life domains. Variables were drawn from three theoretical perspectives – self-determination theory (self-determination and interest), flow theory (balance of challenges and skills and flow experiences), and eudaimonic identity theory (self-realization values and feelings of personal expressiveness). A sample of 637 college students completed the Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire. The paradox of work was replicated and, as hypothesized, relationships among the predictor and subjective experience variables were demonstrated to be similar across all activity domains including productive activities. The paradox of work appears to be an artifact of particularly low levels of self-determination associated with productive activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the recovery movement began with a pushback against treatment, and the philosophies that it was founded upon still have relevant applications to contemporary social work practice. Financial aspects of service provision for people with serious mental illnesses have enabled other actors in the medical model of psychosis treatment to benefit, while disempowering and dehumanizing the consumers of those services. Since then, other movements like Psychopolitics and the Mad Movement have helped empower psychosis survivors to advocate for their right to self-determination amid the epistemological pressure to identify as disabled. Social workers would like to believe that the field has moved beyond the philosophies that perpetuated institutionalization of people with serious mental illnesses. Contemporary examples, however, reveal how social services in the US maintain the status quo of sanism for psychosis survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nPoints of interestSelf-determination, or the freedom to act as the primary causal agent in one’s life, is a well-documented component of enhanced quality of life. Yet young adults with disabilities are often less self-determined than their nondisabled peers. Furthermore, there is an absence of the voices of young adults with disabilities in the literature related to self-determination. While research investigating populations positioned as marginalized has historically been defined by a marked power differential, separating the researcher from the participant, this study utilizes photovoice, a participatory method, to understand how U.S. college students with intellectual disabilities understand self-determination. We seek to trouble the dominant narrative that marginalizes students with intellectual disabilities and instead positions these emerging adults as experts in their own lives. From this study we illuminate how self-determination is enhanced through equality of opportunity and how sense of belonging is related to self-determination.Because the voices of groups of people marginalized by society (such as young adults with disabilities) are often left out of the research related to their lives, it is important to use methods of research that attempt to change this fact; some of these methods can be called participatory research.For young adults with intellectual and developmental disability, the barriers to self-determination are many; this project’s main aim was to centre their voices and position them as active participants and experts in their own lives.One particular type of participatory research called photovoice is a partnership between researchers and participants, where participants take photos of specific parts of their lives and then explain them.Using a photovoice project we carried out within a course within an inclusive postsecondary education programme on a U.S. college campus, we aimed to better understand participants’ conceptualization of self-determination in their everyday lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child protection systems in Australia continue to disproportionately investigate Aboriginal families and intervene to remove Aboriginal children, applying non-Indigenous constructs and understandings of child development that contribute to these enduring inequities. Attachment theory is one such prevalent framework with significant applications in child protection. While constructions of attachment have attempted to grapple with diversity, its application in Australian child protection policy and practice reflects dominant socio-cultural perceptions as a foundation for decision making that misrepresents Aboriginal families and their children’s developmental needs. We position this socio-legal application of attachment specifically, and developmental sciences more broadly, within a long history of settler-colonial intervention, providing a façade of scientific authority that perpetrates further harms on Aboriginal children, families and communities. We offer insights about a new frame for attachment that respects Aboriginal worldviews as part of structural transformations to address those harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have indicated that the level of autonomy of people with intellectual disability is influenced by personal and environmental factors. The aims of this cross-sectional and correlational study were to determine a correlation between the level of autonomy in adults with intellectual disability, on the one hand, and specific personal and environmental factors, on the other hand, and to determine the predictors of the achieved level of autonomy. Adults with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (N = 128) completed self-report Autonomy subscale of The Arc's Self-Determination Scale: Adult Version and the Choice Questionnaire. Their executive functions were assessed individually. Data on participants' social skills were obtained from their caretakers using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale – Socialisation domain. The results indicated a significant positive correlation between participants' level of autonomous behaviour and their age, social skills, availability of choice and executive functions. Significant independent predictors of the autonomy level were availability of choice, type of housing, gender and age of the participants. It is concluded that it is important to apply the procedures designed to develop the skills of independent decision-making as well as support the encouragement of independent housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous-led impact assessment (ILIA) is a project review process designed and conducted with meaningful input and an adequate degree of control by Indigenous peoples. Using a case-based approach, this paper examines ILIAs conducted in Canada. The research – tools for ILIA – provides examples of options for the design and implementation of ILIA processes which have been utilized by Indigenous Nations while making their own determinations regarding if and how development should occur according to their unique locations, histories, natural resource issues, and governance. We have identified five tools: framework agreements; customized review panels; land use and consultation policy; impact and benefit agreements; and land use planning. Each tool is described along with a case study example of how the tool was applied within ILIA. Although our work focuses on Canada, the examples and tools can be valuable for Indigenous peoples and EIA practitioners in jurisdictions elsewhere who are looking to understand how ILIA might be operationalized to reflect their settings, values, and priorities. The results are helpful to Indigenous governments and groups looking to develop their own approaches to assessment, and for understanding the relative strengths and experiences of options they may consider or adapt for their own needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global nursing shortage. As the shortage worsens, reliance on internationally educated nurses is expected to increase, presenting challenges and opportunities for health care systems and nurse leaders worldwide. While internationally educated nurses bring cultural and ethnic diversity to domestic workforces, they face significant hurdles in successfully integrating due to racism, discrimination, and isolation, which can have a negative impact on their self-determination. The challenges encountered by internationally educated nurses can not only affect their self-determination, but they can also pose risks to patient safety. Objectives: This purpose of this paper was to examine the extant literature to describe the experiences of internationally educated nurses through the lens of Ryan and Deci's Self-Determination Theory. Another aim was to offer nurse managers and administrators strategies for supporting internationally educated nurses within their health care facilities. Design: Discussion Paper. Conclusions: Health care organizations should allocate time and resources to facilitate the professional transition of internationally educated nurses, promoting their psychological well-being and self-determination by fostering autonomy, competence, and relatedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-determination related skills are central for achieving a life of quality for people with intellectual disability and develop as the person interacts with his/her contexts, such as home. As such, families are crucial agents in supporting the self-determination of their children with intellectual disability, although to date, little is known about how to support those families. To address this need, the present study used a Delphi technique to build and reach a consensus on the critical components that should inform interventions targeting families to promote their children's self-determination. Academics and professionals participated in this three-round Delphi study that concluded with a 90-item list of critical components for intervention, concretely relating to general principles, format, content, and methodology. This knowledge has the potential to guide emergent intervention initiatives to support families in fostering their children's self-determination. Implications for research and practice fields are provided and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Canadian healthcare system bares a long legacy of colonisation and assimilation of Indigenous values and approaches to health and wellness. This system often perpetuates social and health inequities through systemic racism, underfunding, lack of culturally appropriate care and barriers to access care. Current funding legislation policies enacted across federal, provincialand territorial governments do not necessarily uphold Indigenous Peoples' rights to self-determination, health and wellness. We summarise literature on promising Indigenous health systems and practices that prioritise and/or improve rural Indigenous Peoples' health and wellness. Objective: The impetus for this review was to provide information on promising health systems, while Dehcho First Nations developed a health and wellness vision. Methods: Documents were gathered from indexed and non-indexed databases to obtain literature from peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. Two reviewers independently 1) screened titles, abstracts and full texts to ensure they met the inclusion criteria, 2) gathered relevant data from all included documents and 3) identified major themes and sub-themes. Reviewers then discussed and reached consensus on the themes. Results: Thematic analysis revealed six themes for effective health systems for rural and remote Indigenous communities: 1) access to primary care, 2) multi-directional knowledge exchange, 3) culturally appropriate care, 4) training and building community capacity, 5) integrated care and 6) health system funding. Conclusion: Effective health and wellness systems must support Indigenous ways of knowing and doing in healthcare models based on collaborative partnerships with community members, health providers and government agencies. Sustainable health and wellness funding plans must be provided through federal, provincial, territorial and state partnerships. Indigenous core values, culture and knowledge must be integrated within mainstream health systems. Indigenous Rightsholders must inform all plans for altering or implementing Indigenous health systems. Non-Indigenous cultural safety and competency training can improve care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine sleep health within a self-determination framework across a diverse college sample. Participants: A nonclinical sample of undergraduate students (n = 399) from a large, urban, public university in the Mid-Atlantic United States in Spring 2020. Methods: Participants were recruited via an online research participation portal and received extra credit for participation. All measures were administered via an online survey. Results: Basic psychological need satisfaction was associated with sleep health. This association was partially mediated by sleep hygiene but not by regulatory style. There were no racial/ethnic differences in sleep health, sleep hygiene, basic need satisfaction, or regulatory style. Men reported more maladaptive motivational styles for sleep health, and non-binary/transgender students reported worse sleep hygiene. Conclusion: Basic psychological need satisfaction and sleep hygiene are critical targets for intervention across diverse college student populations. Motivation may be less critical for nonclinical interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract \nPoints of Interest Mobility is essential in navigating familiar and unfamiliar environments. People with disability may experience vulnerability in navigating the external environment, when mobility is hindered by discomfort, commodification, or disorientation. Independent commute, choice, and control can be enhanced with appropriate aids, technology, and infrastructure. Self-determination can also be seen to enhance mobility through the realisation of strengths and limitations of the individual and the opportunity to act with self-regulation, in a way that responds to events in an empowered way. Utilising a critical incident technique, this qualitative study examines the enabling and disabling factors that impact self-determination of young adults with mobility disability in the context of their journey to work and explores the role digital technologies can play in this journey. Key findings related to the importance of mobility planning, transport options and communication in the journey to work are discussed. The importance of digital technologies is highlighted including the proposed features of digital enabling platforms. Mobility is part of the journey to work experience that involves physical commute as well as the activities involved in planning and getting ready before commuting. Routine journeys take less planning and preparation than new journeys to work. For young adults with mobility disability, the journey to work is enhanced through mobility planning, transport option, policies and standards and communication. Self-determination of young adults with mobility disability can be enabled or disabled by a range of factors that significantly influence the journey to work experience. Digital technologies aid in supporting the planning and the commute experience for people with mobility disability. Mobility is part of the journey to work experience that involves physical commute as well as the activities involved in planning and getting ready before commuting.Routine journeys take less planning and preparation than new journeys to work.For young adults with mobility disability, the journey to work is enhanced through mobility planning, transport option, policies and standards and communication.Self-determination of young adults with mobility disability can be enabled or disabled by a range of factors that significantly influence the journey to work experience.Digital technologies aid in supporting the planning and the commute experience for people with mobility disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract \nPoints of interest Autistic people demonstrate poor outcomes on objective measures of wellbeing, yet research centring lived experience provides a more nuanced picture. There is growing support for person-centred, holistic and community approaches to enhancing wellbeing for autistic people. Social prescribing may be one such approach. This qualitative study explored the concept of wellbeing for autistic adults – including barriers and self-management – and the implications of this for modifying social prescribing. It involved semi-structured interviews with 21 autistic adults in the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data supports research suggesting that self-determination may underlie many aspects of wellbeing for autistic people. The COVID-19 pandemic provided new opportunities to develop wellbeing strategies but also had negative impacts. Social prescribing could promote self-determination by signposting autistic people to peer support opportunities building on intrinsic interests. This interview-based study asked autistic adults to define wellbeing in their own words. The ability to pursue personal wellbeing goals and interests encouraged feelings of competence, connection, acceptance and a positive identity. Social and environmental factors, as well as autistic traits, could have both positive and negative impacts on wellbeing. Receiving an autism diagnosis and accessing support promoted rather than diminished independence and choice, suggesting a need for support should not be considered a poor outcome for autistic people and an accurate diagnosis at any age can be helpful Social prescribing approaches, which connect people to community-based supports, could assist autistic adults with finding and approaching supportive communities and building on interests to enhance wellbeing. This interview-based study asked autistic adults to define wellbeing in their own words.The ability to pursue personal wellbeing goals and interests encouraged feelings of competence, connection, acceptance and a positive identity.Social and environmental factors, as well as autistic traits, could have both positive and negative impacts on wellbeing.Receiving an autism diagnosis and accessing support promoted rather than diminished independence and choice, suggesting a need for support should not be considered a poor outcome for autistic people and an accurate diagnosis at any age can be helpfulSocial prescribing approaches, which connect people to community-based supports, could assist autistic adults with finding and approaching supportive communities and building on interests to enhance wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores the impact of the emergency transition to remote education (ETRE) during the COVID-19 pandemic on instructors and students through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). A modified thematic analysis of narratives from a cross-sectional survey revealed eight themes: Sense of loss/grief, Role conflict, Helplessness, I had no choice, This felt impossible, Lost connections, Am I safe, and They don't care about me. Sub-themes expound on their associated themes. Participant narratives shared feelings of trauma and crisis as they related experiences of higher education during the mandated global shutdown. The stories of these experiences are indicative of loss of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, tenets of self-determination. These experiences, for the majority of students, led to a loss of motivation to learn, participate, or produce meaningful work. For most instructors, the experiences led to a similar lassitude and frustration. The authors conclude that the experience of the ETRE negatively impacted both teaching and learning in the higher education setting. Recommendations include further development in higher education to support both instructors' and students' self-determination during catastrophic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high support needs of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities hamper their possibilities for self-determination. To support their self-determination understanding of what this means for this group is necessary. A three-round Delphi procedure with international experts was undertaken to operationalise self-determination for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. The quantitative output of Likert scales guided us in finding consensus or differences in the qualitative data. First round qualitative data were analysed thematically. The analysis revealed four topics: (1) statements regarding the characteristics of the person with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, (2) statements regarding characteristics of the social environment, (3) statements regarding the concept of self-determination, and (4) statements regarding the definition and operationalisation of concepts. Consensus was found on the assumption that persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities can live a self-determined life and on the importance of the interplay between persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and the environment in order to experience self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-determination aims to provide everyone the opportunity to sketch their life trajectories. Seemingly aspirational, paths are continuously influenced throughout childhood by both favourable and unfavourable factors. Natural environmental exposures have considerable impacts on development that give rise to transgenerational and community-wide consequences by influencing physical, emotional, and cognitive growth. Each interference can affect academic performance, the ability to reach one's full potential, and ultimately generational social mobility. The ongoing relationship between early development and hindered self-determination is particularly concerning for non-white and low-income communities in the United States, where children experience disproportionately poor environmental conditions. This paper discusses the multi-scalar effects that stem from such exposures to propose environmental justice efforts as the path toward protecting self-determination. Through reviewing human rights, environmental racism, and capability considerations, the paper illustrates how decades of research have cumulated to create a progression toward equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]