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EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY ON PRESERVICE TEACHERS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
Abstract and Figures
This qualitative case study aimed to explore the experiences of two pre-service
teachers with visual impairments in an English language teaching teacher education
program in terms of inclusive practices, accessibility, need accommodation, and
institutional issues.
Two pre-service teachers with visual impairments, four teacher educators, six peers,
and three administrators participated in this study. The data were collected through
individual and focus group interviews, observations, reflective journals, and
documents. The qualitative analysis of data was done with the utilization of MAXQDA
software. The themes “definition of a teacher”, “inclusive practices”, “attitudes to
disability”, and “institutional issues” emerged from the data analysis.
This study found that pre-service teachers with visual impairments are not considered
to fit in the language teaching profession by teacher educators, and if they are to be in
the teaching profession, they are expected to work at School for the Blind. In addition,
the pre-service teachers with visual impairments experience accessibility issues in
v
transportation and curricular activities, and the teacher educators in this study could
not fully accommodate the needs of the pre-service teachers with visual impairments.
Thus, teacher educators need professional development programs to learn how to
accommodate the needs of the pre-service teachers with visual impairments. Besides,
the institution in which this research study was conducted only followed the
regulations of the Council of Higher Education, and the administrators stated if there
were not the likelihood of economic sanctions, the institution would not provide any
additional accommodation for students with disabilities. Finally, the study revealed
that the peers were aware of the challenges linked to disability and they had empathy
for the pre-service teachers with visual impairments.
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... Four Boolean search operators are used: visual impairment, language teachers, disability, and special education. The findings of this systematic review show that although there is extensive literature on the disability issues such as architectural accommodations, software development, psychological wellbeing of students with disabilities, and teaching students with visual impairments in primary and secondary schools (A kg , 2006;Bayram, 2014;Boydak, 2015;Karakoc, 2016) as well as in teacher education programs (Cinarbas, 2016), there is no study conducted to explore experiences of teachers of students with disabilities in mainstream public or private schools. Thus, it can be concluded that both international and national research shows that disability issues in English language teaching are under-researched areas. ...
... Students with visual impairments are generally considered to be academically low achieving, socially awkward, and interactionally limited (Cinarbas, 2016). In-service training and orientation are essential when language teachers are supposed to teach in an unfamiliar environment. ...
International and national initiatives encourage celebrating diversity in the field of education, yet available literature shows the experiences of teachers of students with disabilities are often overlooked, if not marginalized. Thus, this study aimed to explore language teacher identity and cognition of teachers of students with visual impairment in the context of a School for the Blind. The setting of this case study is a public School for the Blind in Ankara. Interviews, observations, field notes, and legal documents were data collection tools for this case study. Obtained data were analyzed by MAXQDA software. Also, complexity theory was used as the theoretical framework to address the participants’ language teacher identity and cognition. The findings showed that language teacher identity is dependent on personal, social, cultural, and educational background, and it is subject to changes throughout the participants’ careers in the field of language teaching. On the other hand, the development of language teacher cognition was the result of the interactions between the participants’ undergraduate education, instructional practices, and teacher identities. In the context of the School for the Blind, the interactions between participants’ language teacher identity and cognition created different system configurations and behaviors to cater to the needs of the students with visual impairments. Lastly, this study implicates practical and theoretical suggestions for language teacher identity and cognition in the context of special education schools. Additionally, the results can inform policymakers in addressing the needs of teachers for students with visual impairments.
... The failure to realise to disclose one's disability stems from the student's awareness and knowledge about the legal procedures. If the students with visual impairments who know his/her legal rights and procedures and enact accordingly experience less obstacles when they try to access special education services (Cinarbas, 2016). Otherwise, they become 'invisible' when his/her needs are not accommodated due to environmental constraints and disappear from view. ...
This qualitative case study examined the experiences of two pre- service teachers with visual impairments at a Turkish university. Two pre-service teachers with visual impairments, four teacher educators, six peers, and three administrators participated in this study. The data were collected through individual and focus group interviews, observations, reflective journals, and formal documents. The qualitative analysis of data was completed with the utilisation of MAXQDA software. The findings suggested that even though the institution fulfilled the minimum requirements for the regulations, there were several issues that needed to be addressed in order to provide accessibility to the students with visual impairments. Also, the empowerment and advocacy of students with disabilities were oppressed by dominance social, cultural, and political bodies. In this regard, recommendations and implications for future research are discussed.
Sighted and blind individuals live alongside each other in different parts of the world. In the basic principle of being human, sighted and blind individuals are not different from each other. Visually impaired individuals differ from sighted individuals only in terms of their special needs arising from their visual impairment. Meeting these special needs is important for visually impaired individuals to have equal opportunities with sighted individuals in various fields. As a basic human right, both parties need to access to quality and meaningful education. This situation is not different in foreign language education. Hence, this study aimed to explore what visually impaired students have been through in the process of learning English as a foreign language. The participants of the study, which was designed as a narrative research, were 5 visually impaired university students who studied English as a foreign language. In the study, which was designed as a qualitative research, data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of the research revealed that visually impaired students have had both positive and negative experiences during their English education.
This study explored the experiences of pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, cooperating teachers, and university collaborators in a structured early field experience course. Qualitative methodology including data sources of interviews, observations, focus groups, audio and video recordings were used. The results of the study indicated that the exposure of pre-service teachers into real school contexts provided them with the necessary foundations of becoming reflective practitioners. The benefits of the structured early field experiences outweighed the challenges. Early field experiences are critical in forming the pre-service teacher beliefs and philosophies of pre-service teachers, so they should be designed carefully to meet their needs.
Throughout history there have been two vital elements that naturally support child development: 'play' and 'toy'. Many scientific studies on the development of children have underlined the essential role of toys and play tools, as the objects of the play activity. However, play tools and toys designed for visually impaired children are inadequate. The study has been constructed upon an observation study carried out in the nursery and first grade classes in a primary school for visually impaired children. Based on observation study, the study has stated toy design criteria for visually impaired children to improve their skills. Underlining the design criteria, the study is finalized with a play set design to support them in their daily lives.
For visually impaired people it is always a problem to manage their life like a normal person. Even some very simple jobs, like going to job/school, shopping are sometimes causing big problems for them. There are several studies for visually impaired people to make their life easier which free them from boundaries. Unfortunately, these projects are very limited to integrate them to lead a normal life. In this study, a path finding algorithm for the navigation problem of visually impaired people is implemented. A shopping center is chosen as a case study for this research and the algorithm is tested on the developed laboratory environment. The tests are based on simulations performed by the data collected by means of the laboratory environment.
Keywords: Path Finding Algorithm, A* Algorithm, Visually Impaired Navigation
Araştırmanın genel amacı; ilköğretim 4. ve 5. sınıf Fen Bilimleri dersinde araştırmaya dayalı öğrenme yaklaşımı modellerinden rehberli keşfetme modeli ile geleneksel öğretim yaklaşımına göre işlenen dersin, görme yetersizliği olan öğrencilerin fen dersine ilişkin tutumları arasında anlamlı bir farklılık olup olmadığının belirlenmesidir. Araştırmada deneysel araştırma desenlerinden çok denekli desenlerin içinde yer alan yarı deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın evreni Ankara ili Altındağ ilçesinde bulunan görme engelliler ilköğretim okulu, örneklemi ise deney grubunda (N=20) ve kontrol grubunda bulunan (N=19) toplam 39 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada, öğrencilerin fene ilişkin tutumlarını ölçmek için Geban, Ertepınar, Yılmaz, Altın ve Şahbaz (1994) tarafından hazırlanan "Fen Bilgisi Tutum Ölçeği" kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın bulgularına göre; araştırmaya dayalı öğrenme yaklaşımının kullanıldığı deney grubundaki öğrencilerin fene ilişkin tutumları, kontrol grubundaki öğrencilere göre anlamlı düzeyde farklılık göstermiştir. Deney grubundaki öğrencilerin cinsiyetlerine, sınıf düzeylerine ve görme düzeylerine fen dersine ilişkin tutumları arasında anlamlı bir farklılık bulunamamıştır. Sonuç olarak araştırmaya dayalı öğrenme yaklaşımının görme yetersizliği olan öğrencilerin fen dersine ilişkin tutumlarını geliştirmede geleneksel öğretim yaklaşımına göre daha etkili olduğu söylenebilir.
Rev.& expanded from Case study research in education,1988.Incl.bibliographical references,index
