Investigating how the learning needs of students with vision disability are understood and accommodated within mainstream secondary schools in Cameroon: a case study of one secondary school

Longla, Fobuzie Bridget

Investigating how the learning needs of students with vision disability are understood and accommodated within mainstream secondary schools in Cameroon: a case study of one secondary school

Thesis / Dissertation

2024

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Faculty

Faculty of Health Sciences

Abstract

Abstract-Open Inclusive education, with a focus on the inclusion of learners from disadvantaged groups, such as those with disabilities, is of great concern for education systems around the world. Yet students with disabilities continue to be excluded from participation and achievement in education. Children with sensory impairments such as vision disability in low and middle countries are inadequately provided for. This means that these children either do not attend school or, when they do, the environment including the curriculum and pedagogy are inaccessible to them because education, in the main, is designed for those who can see. In the education of students with vision disabilities, it is crucial for role players to understand vision loss and its impact on access, participation and achievement for these students. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of literature in Cameroon on how role players such as teachers, parents, school administrators and sighted peers of students with vision disability understand and respond to the learning needs of students with vision disability. To address this knowledge gap, a qualitative case study to understand how the learning needs of students with vision disability are understood and accommodated within mainstream secondary schools in Cameroon was conducted. The research question was: How are the learning needs of students with vision disability understood and accommodated within mainstream secondary schools in Cameroon? Disability Studies in Education, Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory and Postcolonial Theory are the theoretical lenses which guided the conduct of the study. The main focus of disability studies in education is the social model of disability in an education context. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems' theory examines the impact of the environment on the education of a child, while postcolonial theory looks at the colonial legacies in the sphere of education and how these shape education provision for different groups of learners. Six students with profound vision disability, six mainstream secondary school teachers, five sighted peers of students with vision disability, four parents, three resource teachers, two focal point persons for inclusive education and two key informants provided the data for the study. The data was collected through individual interviews, one focus group discussion, document review, observation and the researcher's field notes. The data was analysed thematically resulting in two main themes as follows: 1. It is not too easy to teach them and it is not too easy to learn here, and 2. Gate crashing? It was established that the law in Cameroon which guides education provision for learners with disabilities is conceived within a medical model perspective and, this shapes role players' understanding of disability and thus influences how they respond to the learning needs of students with vision disability. It was also evident that the environment in which teaching and learning take place, poses significant pedagogic barriers, making it challenging for the teachers to teach and for learners with vision disability to participate and achieve on a par with their sighted peers. It was concluded that several measures, including a review of the law on education provision for students with disabilities, need to be undertaken in order to ensure equity in education provision for students with disabilities in general and those with vision disability in particular. This study provides critical new knowledge on how the learning needs of students with vision disability are understood and accommodated within a specific school in Africa. The new knowledge does not only add to the limited body of knowledge on the education of students with vision disability in Cameroon but may assist role players in education, such as the ministries of education, teachers, parents and education authorities to develop measures which guarantee quality and equity in education for all learners as an issue of human rights and social justice.

Keywords

Health Science

Reference:

Collections

PhD / Doctoral

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