Leadership for Self Determination
John O’Brien
June 1999
Self-Determination is… …………………………………………………………………………………………………2
The changes we want to make ………………………………………………………………………………………3
Policy questions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
Implementation issues……………………………………………………………………………………………….6
Social and political change ………………………………………………………………………………………..7
How much of a challenge does self-determination present? ………………………………………..8
How could self-determination be defeated? ……………………………………………………………….12
Signs of failure …………………………………………………………………………………………………………12
How failure could happen……………………………………………………………………………………….12
What can we do to move the self-determination agenda forward?…………………………….15
This report summarizes a retreat for people interested in the North Carolina Self- determination Leadership Network* held at Aqueduct on 18-19 June 1999. The retreat was coordinated by the Center for Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and facilitated by John O’Brien, who prepared this summary from a set of posters and notes made during the retreat and checked for accuracy with participants through verbal summaries. Because the retreat was designed to give participants a chance to explore the implications of self-determination, the group did not make decisions or test for consensus; so not every participant would agree with each point in the summary. This summary does not reflect the position of any group or organization represented by retreat participants.
