Exploring the experiences of teaching learners with visual disability: narratives of seven teachers.

Abstract

The constitutional dispensation and the subsequent recognition of education as a basic human right placed an obligation on government to accord to vulnerable sections of society an egalitarian status. For the education system, this meant that it had to ensure access to quality education for all learners, including those with disabilities, in order to enable them to reach their potential and meaningfully participate in and contribute to the wellbeing of society. This study sought to explore the experiences of teachers teaching learners with visual disability.

Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to generate the data for this study. Semi-structured interviews sought to delve into the teachers’ experiences of teaching learners with visual disability, while structured lesson observations sought to elucidate these understandings by studying teachers in action. The study adopted a qualitative research approach, located within a critical research paradigm. The participants in the study were seven (7) teachers, who taught learners with visual disability.

Findings revealed that teachers were influenced by normative discourses that underpin inclusive education. Participants responded to these discourses in two ways. Some participants used the inclusive education policy as a means to accommodate learners’ needs, while others had a perfunctory understanding of inclusive education, which often made them lose focus, leaving them to question their abilities to teach learners with visual disability. Secondly, findings revealed that participants’ experiences were mostly negative, with lack of professional development programmes as a major barrier. However, participants used their agency to ensure that their learners learned, despite these challenges. For this study, participants concluded that curriculum planners and policy makers did not have learners with visual disability in mind when they were setting up the system.

From this study, it could be concluded that, as much as Education White Paper 6 was promulgated to build an inclusive education and training system, implementation must consider the fact that education systems are power laden spaces, where practices are likely to reflect dominant values, norms and beliefs about disability. That is, inclusive education can only be effectively implemented if these normative configurations are diligently interrogated and troubled, and new realities are established.