STRENGTHS-BASED GROUP PSYCHOEDUCATION WITH INCLUSIVE PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' SELF-DETERMINATION

Abstract

Inclusive higher education requires support systems that enable students with diverse abilities and learning needs to participate meaningfully and to act as agents in their academic, social, and career development. Although inclusive policies have expanded access, access alone does not automatically strengthen students' self-determination. Many students still experience difficulty in making choices, regulating behaviour, expressing needs, building confidence, and using self-knowledge to plan meaningful goals. This conceptual article, refines a model of Strengths-Based Group Psychoeducation with Inclusive Principles to develop university students' self-determination. The model synthesizes Causal Agency Theory and the functional model of self-determination, strengths-based counselling, psychoeducational group practice, and inclusive education principles. Psychoeducation is positioned as the intervention structure, strengths-based processes as the core developmental activities, and inclusive principles as the ethical and contextual foundation. The model targets four essential characteristics of self-determined behaviour: autonomy, self-regulation, psychological empowerment, and self-realization. It operates through five core processes: inclusive group alliance, strengths assessment and SWOB analysis, exploration of hopes and personally meaningful goals, strengths-based action planning, and construction of a positive self-identity. The article contributes to guidance and counselling by offering a theoretically coherent and practically applicable framework for developing student agency in inclusive higher education.