Date
6-2021
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Rollen Fowler
Keywords
students with disabilities, academic experiences, social experiences, transcendental phenomenology, critical disability theory, student persistence theory
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Agyekum, Shadrack, "The Experiences of Students with Disabilities: A Phenomenological Study of Postsecondary Students in Ghana" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3038.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3038
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of students with disabilities at Golden Technical Institute (a pseudonym) in the eastern belt of Ghana. The theories guiding this study were Hosking’s critical disability theory and Tinto’s student persistence theory. This study sought to understand postsecondary students with disabilities’ social and academic experiences and institutional and personal factors that impact persistence. Transcendental phenomenological research approach was employed to understand how students with disabilities experience the phenomenon under the study. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to select participants. Twelve participants took part in this research. Data were collected through personal interviews, focus group discussion, and prompt letter. I made sense of the text collected from interviews, focus group discussion, and prompt letter. I built detailed descriptions, applied codes, and developed themes. The five themes that emerged from this study include learning, relationship and interaction, social influence, institutional factors, and determination and perseverance. This research revealed both positive and negative interactions among participants, instructors, and peers.
