Consumer reports - What students with behavior disorders say about school

The purpose of this study war to describe how one group of consumers of spe cial education services-students with or at risk for behavior disorders-exp erienced school. We present the perspective of these students within the so cial constructivist framework represented by the circle of courage, a holis tic approach to childrearing and community building based on traditional Na tive American philosophy. Seventeen students with or at risk for behavior d isorders participated in semiformal small-group or individual interviews. T hematic analysis of the interview data yielded the following three categori es representative of the students' experiences with respect to the four spi rits of the circle of courage: (a) the students' view of themselves with re spect to each of the spirits, (b) the students' perspective about school ex periences that encourage each of the spirits, and (c) the students' perspec tive about school experiences that discourage each of the spirits. To refle ct the richness and coherence of the students' accounts, results are presen ted using direct quotes and discussed within the context of current researc h in behavior disorders.