Investigating teachers’ experiences of teaching learners with visual impairment at secondary school level in Lesotho

Abstract

This study investigates teachers’ experiences of teaching learners with visual impairment in three secondary schools in the district of Maseru. It is a qualitative case study using interpretivist paradigm. The study used Lev Vygotsky's social constructivist theory as a lens to direct the investigation. There were twelve teachers who participated in this study; 6 teachers from secondary school A which has long history in accommodating learners with visual impairment; three of them were support teachers and the other three were regular teachers. There were also 3 participants from secondary schools B and C respectively. All of participants were selected purposively. Semistructured interviews were used to collect the data, while thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, and the themes derived from direct extracts were used to present the findings. The findings reveal that teachers try to support learners with visual impairment in mainstream classrooms but all three secondary schools have no school policy that states how these learners should be supported. Although, teachers support them academically and provide concessions for them, the findings also indicate that learners with visual impairment (VI) face challenges in inclusive secondary schools. Among the challenges are, not having access to 100 percent of lessons due to inappropriate teaching methods; inadequate resources especially that enable them to learn practical subjects; inaccessible physical environment and negative attitudes from both teachers and sighted peers. The study also found that their psychosocial needs are ignored part of which results from inadequate teacher training for inclusive education. The study concludes that teachers in all the three schools lack both pre- and continuous professional development; they are inadequately trained to support learners with VI. It recommends that MoET should evaluate how Lesotho Inclusive Education Policy (LIEP) launched in 2019 is implemented to accommodate learners with VI in Lesotho and should also provide appropriate teaching and learning materials to schools which accommodate learners with VI. Additionally, regular teachers should work hand in hand with special education teachers, and both pre-service and in-service training should be provided for all teachers. Lastly, MoET should employ special education teachers in all schools supporting learners with VI if inclusion of learners with VI in the secondary schools is to improve.