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Inclusive education: Identifying and addressing the challenges of
studying mass communication with visual impairment at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
*A
DEMOLA
A
BDULRAUF
A
DELEKE & **
E
DITH
U
GOCHI
O
HAJA, PH.D.
Abstract
This research sought to determine the challenges faced by visually impaired students of Mass Communication at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It also examined how inclusion in areas such as curricular and facilities can be applied
to address these challenges. The study employed the qualitative research methods of in-depth interview and personal
observation in collecting data. The interview guide was the instrument for data collection. The study was anchored on
Vygotsky’s theories of dysontogenesis and social learning. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 25
visually impaired respondents comprising undergraduates and graduates of the department over a 13-year period.
Findings revealed that infrastructure was accessed with difficulty by these students and there was high inadequacy of
teaching and learning materials, special/assistive technologies, trained staff and funds for the teaching and learning of
the visually impaired students. Hence it was recommended that the university, government and other stakeholders
take special actions to address the needs of visually impaired students, like installation of screen reading technology
on computers in libraries and the establishment of a disability office in the department with specially trained staff to
cater to the peculiar needs of the visually impaired.
Key Words: Inclusive Education, Mass Communication, Visual Impairment, University of Nigeria.
Introduction
In the sub-Saharan region of Africa, the University
of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was the first university
to offer a degree programme in Mass
Communication and since then, other universities
like University of Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe
University and many more have offered various
communication-related courses in both their first
degree and postgraduate programmes (Gambo,
2013). Being one of the most marketable courses
in Nigeria, Mass Communication is highly sought
after by university aspirants who majored in the
Arts field in secondary school (Kerketta, 2022).
The disabled often join the able-bodied students to
struggle for admission into Mass Communication
departments in Nigerian universities and
polytechnics. Among these disabled students are
the visually impaired. Sahasrabudhe and Palvia
(2013) assert that in the educational setting, most
of the curriculum assumes that the student has
perfect eyesight. But many people, including
students, have visual problems.
According to Agesa (2014, p. 185), visual
impairment simply means “loss of vision”. The
term refers to faulty vision that negatively affects a
person’s normal activities in such ways as adding
tedious problems to their attempts to read and
advance educationally. There are different levels
of visual impairment but they can be broadly
categorised into total blindness (for those who
cannot see at all) and low vision (for those who
cannot see clearly). Those with low vision can
move around unaided but they cannot distinguish
objects, especially small objects, and so they
cannot read. Both levels of impairment hamper a
person’s visual functioning in their daily life
(Visual Impairment, 2022).
Inclusive education simply means conforming
to the principle of inclusion in educational settings.
Inclusion, on its part, according to Inclusion.Me
Network, is “a universal human right” whose aim
is “to embrace all people irrespective of race,
gender, disability, medical or other need. It is
Authors’ Bio
* Ademola Abdulrauf Adeleke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is
a film producer, actor and screen writer with Creat! Creativity Limited, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
** Edith Ugochi Ohaja, Ph.D., (Corresponding Author) is a Senior Lecturer at the Mass Communication Department,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. Her research interests include journalism, communication education,
new media, the ethics and effects of mass communication.
JCMR
Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022, pp. 121-134
122 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
about giving equal access and opportunities and
getting rid of discrimination and intolerance
(removal of barriers)” (What Does Inclusion
Mean?, 2008). Many stakeholders in the public
and private sectors have been using various media
to campaign for inclusion in the society in general,
including in the educational sector, as these films
which the visually impaired lead researcher of this
paper, Ademola A. Adeleke, headlines show (The
Need to Live, 2021; Once Upon a Life, 2020).
Practising inclusion in education means that
everyone, including the non-disabled and disabled,
are taught together in mainstream institutions of
learning. It means that the educational system does
not marginalise anyone but that all learners are
valued and provided with the resources and
assistance they need to acquire the necessary
knowledge and skills (What Is Inclusive
Education? 2022).
According to the United Nations' Children's
Fund (UNICEF): “Inclusive education is the most
effective way to give all children a fair chance to
go to school, learn and develop the skills they need
to thrive. Inclusive education means all children in
the same classrooms, in the same schools. It means
real learning opportunities for groups who have
traditionally been excluded – not only children
with disabilities, but speakers of minority
languages too” (Inclusive Education: Every child
has the right to quality education and learning,
n.d., paras. 4-5).
The United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and similar
instruments demand inclusive education for the
disabled (Cited in Inclusive Education and
International Human Rights Instruments, 2018).
But the fact remains that due to their peculiarities,
people with disabilities, like the visually impaired,
face many challenges in learning owing to the
absence of an inclusive academic curriculum and
because the services and facilities for disabled
students are not readily available in institutions of
higher learning (Mapuranga & Nyenya as cited in
Majoni & Mashatise, 2017).
These challenges in a course like Mass
Communication and the possible ways through
which visually impaired students can be aided by
the application of inclusion are yet to be
investigated in the Nigerian context, hence this
study at the premier institution to offer the course
in the country.
Although the study was conducted at UNN, it
is hoped that the findings will be beneficial to
other institutions of higher learning in the country
since they run similar programmes and possibly
operate with similar facilities.
Research Questions
1. What are the general challenges faced by the
visually impaired students of Mass
Communication at UNN?
2. How do the visually impaired students
participate in Photojournalism, Graphics of
Mass Communication and other sight-
intensive courses in the Mass Communication
curriculum at UNN?
3. What are the challenges visually impaired
students of Mass Communication at UNN
encounter when carrying out journalistic tasks
during internship?
4. How can inclusion be applied in personnel,
curriculum and facilities to help visually
impaired students of Mass Communication at
UNN?
Review of Literature
Visual impairment, like other form of disabilities,
has been variously perceived and inspired different
treatments based on these perceptions (Adekunle,
2011). Obani (2004) avers that some cultures still
have superstitious beliefs about people with
disabilities and handicaps, such as viewing them as
cursed. As a result of such wrong perceptions, they
are highly likely to be maltreated (Obani, 2004).
As time goes by, however, people are beginning to
understand that impairments, whether congenital
or developed later in life, could happen to anyone.
From this realisation has arisen calls to deal
proactively with their condition through formal
education. It has also led to the widespread
establishment of special schools, some of which
serve the needs of the visually impaired.
Furthermore, calls have been made to situate the
impaired in regular educational institutions to
better integrate them into the society (Vygotsky,
1993; Blackhurst, 1993). It has become common
practice in recent years, particularly in advanced
nations, to mainstream visually impaired students
successfully into regular classes with students that
have no impairments. They are taught in inclusive
settings that recognise and address their needs
(Gindis, 1999).
Some studies have looked at disability and
what those who have it face. For instance, Omede
(2015) examined the challenges obtainable in the
higher educational system and asserted that people
with visual impairment need higher education to
be set free from the bonds of pity. The study found
out that to be well educated, the visually impaired
need optical aids, Braille writing materials and
other library resources. They also need to
surmount the challenges of mobility, funding,
computer application and personnel availability.
Adeleke & Ohaja: Identifying and addressing the challenges of studying mass communication…
123
Similarly, Maindi (2018) studied the
challenges faced by students with visual
impairments when learning physics in regular
secondary schools. The study found that
classrooms in the schools were not sufficiently
lighted and hence were not appropriate for
students with low vision. The students were also
exposed to unsuitable reading materials and most
of the respondents did not have important optical
and non-optical aids. The study further found that
the visually impaired learners did not get support
services from vision support teachers nor
interventions to assist them overcome their visual
handicap.
In a related work on the challenges faced by
disabled students when enlisted in programmes at
the Zimbabwe Open University, Mutasa, Goronga
and Tafangombe (2013) studied students with
different categories of disabilities comprising
those with visual, hearing, physical impairment
and mental health challenges. According to the
results obtained from the visually impaired
respondents, the challenges included financial
difficulties, accessing the physical facilities and
environment of some Regional Centres, shortage
of technological devices and low ability in
utilising them, failure to adapt study materials and
challenges in writing exams. The researchers
identified the lack of modification of study
materials for the visually impaired as a major
setback in their academic pursuit.
Also, in her study of visually impaired
students of Music Education, Ball (2017) opined
that higher education should be accessible to all
irrespective of their physical, sensory or cognitive
characteristics and, therefore, official policies must
be formulated and implemented to ensure this. She
further stated that people who cannot see suffer
because society often provides only visual
information rather than tactile or audio cues which
can help the visually impaired in independent
study. Participants in the study indicated that most
of their peers were open and helpful. All of the
respondents also reported that most members of
staff were supportive and sacrificed their spare
time to assist the visually impaired students.
Sahasrabudhe and Palvia (2013) in their work
titled, “Academic challenges of blind students and
their mitigation strategies,” examined how
technology was used by such students in high
school and college to address their problems. The
research which made use of qualitative interviews
for data collection studied five blind students of
the same school in India and, according to the
findings, their main challenges were reading,
writing, learning mathematics and science. The
study also found that many of them lacked access
to computer and screen reading technology and
hence, experienced a great deal of limitation in
accessing technologically-based information.
To address the challenges faced by disabled
students, available literature shows that inclusive
education is highly beneficial. According to
Special Education Guide (2022), it improves
interaction between the disabled and their peers,
which enables them to build relationships that
reduce their sense of isolation and increase the
help they receive with their studies from both
fellow students and teachers. It also challenges
teachers to come up with tools and strategies to
help disabled students independently or in
collaboration with their colleagues. And it helps
disabled students to perform better as they are
fully engaged in inclusive settings rather than
confined to segregated classrooms. This review
indicates that although there exists some literature
on the challenges of visually impaired students,
there is dearth of literature on the challenges of
studying Mass Communication with visual
impairment and how to remedy them. This study
intends to fill that gap.
Theoretical Framework
The study is anchored on Lev S. Vygotsky’s
theories, namely, the theory of dysontogenesis or
distorted development and sociocultural theory,
also called Vygotsky’s cognitive development or
social development theory. Vygotsky (1896-1934)
was a Russian psychologist whose pioneering
work in how to teach disabled children has
influenced advances and breakthroughs in special
and inclusive education around the world (Gindis,
1999). Collections of his works published decades
after his death such as Vygotsky, 1983; 1993;
1995; 1997a & 1997b have become invaluable
resources in education and psychology. His theory
of dysontogenesis holds that there are different
levels of defects that disabled people grapple with:
primary defects are the result of organic
impairment which result in physical disabilities
like blindness or deafness. But there are also
secondary defects which result from the social
isolation and negative treatment the disabled often
receive which varies from environment to
environment and from culture to culture
(Vygotsky, 1995). He contends that the disabled
are not less developed but have developed
differently from those whose organs are
functioning normally. Thus, he calls for positive
differentiation, whereby the disabled are seen in
terms of their strengths and not their weaknesses
(Vygotsky, 1983).
Vygotsky notes that disabled people often
have enhanced capacities in their functional organs
124 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
to compensate for the loss of the impaired organ
function, such enhanced hearing in the blind
(Vygotsky, 1993). But since this enhanced
capacity is limited, Vygotsky recommends the
adoption of psychological means to bridge the gap
between able and disabled learners. For the
visually impaired, for instance, he recommends the
use of tactile symbols (like Braille), expanded
verbal symbols through description and
explanation plus cognition-building approaches
like imagination, reasoning and memorisation to
make up for their inability to perceive visual
symbols (Vygotsky, 1993). He also suggests the
use of technological tools, which was visionary
since many of such tools, like personal computers
and software, were not available during his
lifetime (Vygotsky, 1983).
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, like his
theory of dysontogenesis, seeks to achieve the
integration of the disabled into society without
stigmatisation. He explains that learning is a
gradual and continuous process that results from
the interactions between the student and society.
A proper view of the disabled, he avers, is crucial
to the initiation and sustenance of these
interactions with parents and other family
members, with teachers and co-students in school
and with other members of society they encounter.
As part of this theory, Vygotsky developed a
concept called zone of proximal development
which refers to the distance between what a
student can learn on his or her own and what the
student can learn with the instructor’s assistance
(Moore, 2011). Vygotsky recommends a system of
teaching called scaffolding through which the
teacher gives tasks to each disabled child in small
and ascending doses from what they can handle
independently to what they need guidance for until
they catch up with the able students (Gindis,
1999). This concept therefore supports the giving
of special attention to the disabled according to
their needs to help them meet up the learning
requirements expected of them and their able
peers. The relevance of these two theories to this
study stem from the fact that they are part of
Vygotsky’s vision for the education of the
disabled, which includes the visually impaired, and
that they contain clear propositions that can further
inclusion and help bridge the gap in learning
between the able and the disabled.
Method of Study
This study used qualitative research methods,
namely, in-depth interview and personal
observation/experience. The latter was seamlessly
applied because the lead researcher is a visually
impaired graduate of the department under study.
He is also a disability rights advocate and
campaigner for inclusive education who has
learned much through participation in workshops
and conferences in Nigeria and abroad. His
advocacy activities carried out through an online
campaign, the broadcast media and film
contributed immensely to the answering of
Research Question 4 in particular. The co-author,
on her part, has been a lecturer at the department
throughout the study period and beyond and so her
personal observations are equally germane in this
study. Qualitative research is descriptive and
explanatory. It is meant to improve understanding
of a situation or subject rather than furnish
statistics to validate or invalidate the researcher’s
assumptions as quantitative research does (Ohaja,
2003). It, therefore, calls for longer and deeper
contact with each research subject than
quantitative research methods, like survey, do
(Ohaja, 2003).
The population of the study comprised all
students with visual impairment who have studied
and are still studying Mass Communication at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka. However, all
attempts at getting the exact number of these
students from the Academic Planning Unit of the
university proved futile as it responded that there
has not been any record kept on the admission of
visually impaired students. As a result, the exact
figure of these students will not be stated in this
study. The purposive sampling technique was used
to select students who studied or are studying
Mass Communication with visual impairment at
the university and were admitted between 2008
and 2020 (2020 being the most recent set of
admissions). This 13-year period was used to
enable the researchers get enough respondents for
the study. The researchers located 25 respondents
who fitted the required description and they
formed the sample. Three of the respondents had
low vision while the rest were totally blind.
Previous studies have shown that purposive
sampling and small sample sizes are typical in
qualitative research. After conducting a study that
examined qualitative research over a 15-year
period, Vasileiou, Barnett & Young (2018) stated
as follows: “Samples in qualitative research tend
to be small in order to support the depth of case-
oriented analysis that is fundamental to this mode
of inquiry. Additionally, qualitative samples are
purposive, that is, selected by virtue of their
capacity to provide richly-textured information,
relevant to the phenomenon under investigation.
As a result, purposive sampling – as opposed to
probability sampling employed in quantitative
research – selects ‘information-rich’ cases.”
Adeleke & Ohaja: Identifying and addressing the challenges of studying mass communication…
125
On the specific number of respondents that can
be deemed adequate, Green and Thorogood (2004)
assert that in most interview-based qualitative
research, interviewing more than 20 people in a
relevant participant category does not yield
additional information. Similarly, in their article in
the journal, Field Methods, entitled, “How many
interviews are enough? An experiment with data
saturation and variability,” Guest, Bunce, &
Johnson (2006) advocate that a minimum sample
size of 12 respondents is sufficient for a qualitative
study to attain data saturation. In the light of the
foregoing, the purposive sampling method and
sample size of 25 used in this study are both
appropriate and adequate.
The interviews were held by the researchers
with an interview guide as the instrument. For
most of the students still in school, the sessions
were held at their residences or classrooms while
those who had graduated or students who were
unavailable on campus for personal reasons were
interviewed by phone and messaging apps via
social media.
Table 1: Sample for in-depth interview
S/N Years Number
1
2008
1
2 2009 1
3
2010
2
4
2011
4
5
2012
2
6 2013 1
7
2014
3
8
2015
2
9 2016 2
10 2017 0
11 2018 1
12 2019 3
13 2020 3
Total 25
Results
The results for each research question have been
organised thematically under relevant
subheadings. The responses from the sample will
be paraphrased for conciseness and some quoted
where necessary. The discussion of findings
immediately follows their presentation in each
case to prevent repetition.
RQ1: What are the general challenges faced by
the visually impaired students of Mass
Communication at UNN?
Transportation/mobility and orientation
barriers
Results show that the university does not provide
transport facility to any of the respondents.
Mobility is through shuttle service on and off
campus. Only the three respondents with low
vision could move about unaided. The totally blind
respondents affirmed that canteens are easily
accessed due to their proximity to their hostels and
bathrooms because they are positioned at defined
hostel corners. However, other buildings of
interest such as classrooms, library and hostels are
accessible only with the help of fellow students,
friends, roommates and/or colleagues. These
results are consonant with the findings of Hougann
(1987); Mutasa et al. (2013); Fatima, Bashir,
Malik, Safder and Nayab (2014) and Majoni and
Mashatise (2017) who identified some problems of
students with visual impairment in tertiary
institutions, especially with respect to mobility and
the accessibility of the plhysical environment.
Assistance from resource persons/audio
recording of class sessions
All the respondents stated that most resource
persons neither help them in recording class
sessions nor make such recording easy since they
126 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
are either walking around the class or not using
public address systems. But the use of public
address systems purchased by students admitted
between 2018 and 2020 has eased this problem.
Several respondents, however, disclosed that some
resource persons make sure front seats are
reserved for the visually impaired to ease hearing
since class sessions could sometimes be rowdy,
especially in courses with a large number of
students.
The respondents revealed that the large-
audience classes, like General Studies (GS), were
especially challenging because they were noisy
and it was hard to get seats. Some said they
stopped attending and resorted to procuring past
questions and scanning the textbooks.
The respondents also stated that some lecturers
do not permit audio recording of class sessions at
all, possibly to avoid being misinterpreted as it is
common for these lecturers to deviate into
sensitive discourse of national, ethnic and religious
issues.
Also, the respondents admitted before 2017
stated that the university never provided them with
reading assistance especially soft-copy formats
and/or alternative formats of lectures/lecture
materials, prospectus, notice-board information
and other relevant materials. The situation has,
however, changed with improved use of an
electronic section of the University Library
established in 2009 from which students can
access soft copies of books and journals. A Special
Needs Section of the library was also set up in
2014 but it is yet to be fully equipped with Braille
materials and needs to be better publicised. Similar
findings were reported by Fuller, Healey, Bradley
and Hall (2004) in a study on obstacles of visually
impaired persons at the university level. Gill
(2001) also identified many barriers encountered
by visually impaired students, including
inaccessible materials and difficulties in content
adaptation. Those findings are consistent with the
results of the present study.
Difficulties in recording notes in audio form
outside class
The respondents recounted the following
challenges they face in getting their notes recorded
in audio form. Most times, they go room to room
in search of who would help. Sometimes, they wait
till weekends to find someone since students’
usual complaint is that they have lots of school
work to do during week-days. But the process can
take weeks when the notes to be recorded are
bulky as the sighted colleagues only help at their
convenience. However, some respondents who had
classmates as roommates or had relatives and
Christian fellowship colleagues to depend on faced
less delay in the recording of their notes. The note
recording created additional problems, they said,
when the helper pronounced words incorrectly,
thereby making listening and comprehension
difficult. Sahasrabudhe and Palvia (2013)
identified similar barriers. Respondents in their
study resorted to optical character recognition
(OCR) technology; afterwards, they spent a lot of
time in correcting errors in the scanned text as
volunteers and friends usually got irritated editing
the documents.
Information technology challenges
All the respondents admitted before 2017 stated
that special facilities are not provided at the
university libraries. One respondent stated that the
only desktop – provided by the Blind Students’
Association – in the library is faulty; same with the
scanner. Besides, they also found the absence of
suitable computer programmes – most importantly
JAWS. JAWS is a software which when installed
on a computer system, reads all the items
displayed on the screen for blind users. Only one
student admitted in 2020 acknowledged the
existence of Braille materials in the library,
showing that most of the students are unaware of
the Special Needs Section of the library which a
visually impaired staff is in charge of.
Eight of the respondents have computer; one
respondent has both computer and scanner; nine
respondents (comprising six undergraduates and
three graduates) have/had only tape recorders,
complicating technological facility challenges.
Seven respondents admitted since 2018 have smart
phones with screen reading technology and several
of them have laptops with same.
Fuller et al. (2004) reported a similar finding
in their study of obstacles of visually impaired
students at university level. They found a lack of
suitable computer programmes that could ease the
difficulties faced by visually impaired students.
Mode of taking examinations
Most the respondents said that they dictated their
answers for sighted people to pen down for them.
For GS courses, the invigilator read out, at a
specialised centre, the questions for all visually
impaired present, who then typed their answers.
This response was common, especially among
respondents who graduated from the university in
2016 or earlier when GS courses were not
computer-based and in situations where the
typewriter was the only accepted device for exam
for the visually impaired. Expressing the challenge
here compared to the computer system, two
graduate respondents complained about the
Adeleke & Ohaja: Identifying and addressing the challenges of studying mass communication…
127
inaccuracy and slow pace of answering exam
questions with the typewriter. They asserted that
even with speed on the typewriter, they still could
not meet up with the pace of sighted students using
pen and paper. Also, the typewriter does not reveal
what you are writing and once a mistake is made,
it cannot be corrected.
Buttressing this point, an undergraduate
respondent who mentioned that the Mass
Communication Department allows typewriter,
pen and laptop for visually impaired students
stated that he prefers using a computer. With the
computer, the student can go through the work,
skip certain questions and visit them later.
Answers are also neatly placed. However, not all
lecturers/invigilators permit the use of the
computer because they believe it could facilitate
exam malpractice. Cases like that would force
these students to use the typewriter.
On the issue of time, one graduate respondent
stated that enough time was sometimes given
depending on the invigilator. Another respondent
stated that timing is without preference even when
it is obvious that the blind students work at a
slower pace. Another respondent stated that they
are not given enough time considering that they
have to stop earlier than their sighted colleagues to
arrange their work prior to the exact time when all
scripts would be collected.
However, for GS courses which employ the
Computer Based Technique (CBT), the time is
extended, but it is still not enough – 70 multiple
choice questions to be answered in 40 minutes for
blind students and 35 minutes for sighted students.
During these CBT exams, the librarians read out
the questions from the computer screen for the
impaired students who provide answers to the
questions. This process may waste part of the time
allotted for the exam.
In terms of departmental exams, respondents
stated that they go with a human reader who reads
the questions while they either type down the
answers with the typewriter or the reader writes
down the answers which are supplied by the
respondents. The latter is preferred because the
reader can read out what has been written and if
there is need to make corrections, they can be
easily effected.
In both assignment completion and exam
writing challenges, Mutasa et al. (2013) stated that
the totally impaired had real challenge in
responding to some questions, especially those that
required them to make some drawings. In fact, it
was common for the respondents with low vision
to get someone to write while the student dictated
for them. Where such students wrote for
themselves and their writing overlapped and
flowed into other lines, such answers became
illegible. Fuller et al. (2004) advised that since
students with disabilities encounter more obstacles
than the majority of students, there was need to
take that into consideration when designing
assessments.
Attitudes and assistance from fellow students
Submissions on these vary. Some respondents
stated that the behaviour of non-disabled students
to them is good. They added that everybody must
not like you. But they pointed out that some of
their sighted colleagues behave as if blindness is
contagious and talk about them apostrophically
while they are present as though being blind also
involves loss of hearing. “They see you need help
but walk away,” one respondent remarked. A
graduate respondent noted, however, that she had a
wonderful relationship with many of the non-
disabled students. Another graduate respondent
stated that some of them were good but sometimes
snobbish and; at times, say ridiculous things about
the blind that are not true. These untrue things
include that the blind do not do domestic chores or
take their bath by themselves. “Therefore, they
tend to encroach on our personal lives by wanting
to do simple chores for us,” he added. Another
said: “Some able students care while most of them
do not care at all about my welfare. Most of them
leave me stranded on the road whereas they know
I am going towards their direction.” An
undergraduate respondent revealed that once many
of them know that someone usually helps a
disabled student, they feel their help is not
necessary, hence, anytime the blind student needs
help, rather than take up the responsibility, they
instead call the perceived helper. Another
undergraduate respondent stated that most are very
rude and disdainful towards the blind. For
instance, there was a day he tried making a
contribution to an academic discussion going on
among a few classmates but because he is blind,
they all disregarded his contribution and argued on
among themselves; whereas he had actually said
the right thing.
Most graduate and undergraduate respondents
stated that classmates were of great assistance. For
example, classmates recorded their notes and
escorted them to class. One respondent said that
they did some assignments together and studied
together during exams. A second-year respondent
stated that some of his class-mates help with
recording of notes in their free time. “They make
me understand lessons I never comprehended
before and after lectures, many of them going my
way offer assistance in taking me home.”
128 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
Examples of problems with receiving
assistance is given by Hopkins (2011). In some
cases, persons who rendered assistance ended up
not doing exactly what the disabled needed. In
other cases, peers and teachers spoke to the
perceived assistants rather than the disabled
student. His study also revealed that students had
attitudinal problems from able colleagues.
However, Konur (2006) reported that available
evidence suggests that acceptance and
understanding of people with impairments
improves with experience. In other words, staff
and students can learn and do better as they
interact with the disabled over time.
Interaction with teachers
Several respondents stated that they had good
interaction with their lecturers. According to one,
“Some of the lecturers are nice to the visually
impaired. I feel free to meet them on issues,
especially pertaining to my academics and so I do
not hesitate to go to their offices.” Most
respondents, however, stated that interaction with
lecturers is poor. A graduate respondent stated that
she hardly went to their offices except the need
arose. This could be because, according to another
respondent, once you are too close to them, they
could get your details like name and registration
number and this can generate undue attention of
going through the student’s scripts to know how
well or how poorly the student is doing. “This may
be good,” one respondent stated, “but when it
causes lecturers to have a feeling of indifference
when you are not doing well despite your efforts, it
can be demoralising.” Also, some respondents
complained that there are lecturers who are
unapproachable. In fact, one mentioned that she
was walked out of a lecturer's office while
presenting her case on omitted continuous
assessment even when she was sure she partook in
the assessment. But several respondents
acknowledged that some lecturers seem to mark
their scripts with greater leniency after observing
their struggles in classes, tests and exams.
On the issue of special attention from resource
persons, most respondents stated that lecturers
hardly accorded them special attention. They
maintained that they were treated the same as their
able colleagues. One respondent stated that just
few lecturers accord special attention by mostly
ensuring they sit in front. Lecturers’ concentration
is on the sighted ones, according to another
respondent. One, however, conceded that a few
lecturers call his attention during lectures when
they think he is sleeping – perhaps because his
eyes are shut. This may be because most lecturers
never studied special education or had any training
on dealing with special students. This is usually
unbearable, according to another respondent,
during quizzes and tests, especially impromptu
ones. “There are times where the class is so filled
up and there will be no place to put my typewriter
for the test, so I resort to keeping the typewriter on
the floor and kneeling with it”. Besides, as stated
by another respondent, when using the projector,
blind students feel left out.
Contrary to these findings, many students
reported having positive experiences with teaching
and administrative staff in Brandt (2011). Some
staff also expressed worries in Rowlett’s (2011)
study about whether special attention given to
students with impairments give them an edge over
their non-disabled peers. However, in line with the
predominant findings for this research question,
Tinklin and Hall (1999) opined that lecturers
generally offer no special attention. In fact,
Hopkins (2011) affirmed that in many countries,
institutions of higher education really need to
make necessary adjustments for students with
impairments.
Handling of field assignments
All respondents stated that they find it very
difficult when it comes to going to the field. One
respondent complained that everybody is always
on his/her own and neglect her, so she feels the
absence of her eye-sight a lot. She copes by going
with an outsider who does the task for her and
reports to her afterwards. Another respondent
stated that for the exercise on Development
Journalism, she taped a group interview with her
recorder. At the end, she was able to write a report
on it. Another respondent stated that at times, the
lecturers exempt him from such exercises while
sometimes, he copes with the help of his
classmates. According to a graduate respondent, “I
sought assistance from friends who helped me
with mobility and tasks that require eye-sight”.
Many respondents stated that they paid people to
do their assignments for them.
RQ2: How do the visually impaired students
participate in Photojournalism, Graphics of
Mass Communication and other sight-intensive
courses in the Mass Communication
curriculum at UNN?
Challenges encountered in the course,
Photojournalism
Most of the respondents, especially the graduate
respondents, said that they could not snap or view
photographs as required by the course. Also,
travelling to Enugu to print the photos was a
challenge because they had no sight to navigate
Adeleke & Ohaja: Identifying and addressing the challenges of studying mass communication…
129
through to the studio. Therefore, they had to settle
for the theoretical aspects of the course. According
to them, photojournalism was one of the courses
they did not enjoy so much because it requires
clear vision. Getting the pictures and matching
them with stories was quite challenging. For the
exercise of making a photo album in the course,
most respondents depended on friends who shot,
edited, arranged and printed the photographs for
them. “In fact, if not because the lecturer is a
reverend who understands our plight, we would
have failed the course,” one of the respondents
disclosed. Also, they could not grasp the
illustrations the lecturer was giving about
photographs. “In fact, not grasping these
illustrations creates the feeling of not being well
grounded in Photojournalism and that gives me an
imbalance as a Journalism student,” one of the
interviewees lamented. Another commented thus:
“I record the lecture, listen to it, grasp the ones I
can and ignore the sight-intensive parts. During
exams, if I observe questions that require eye-
sight, I jump them and answer others. Thanks to
my lecturer for his understanding.” Besides the
challenges of not being able to participate actively
in the course as a result of visual impairment,
another challenge according to one respondent was
the lecturer’s insistence that he get a camera which
he would not be able to use. “Anytime I came to
class without a camera, he sent me out. This action
had a psychological effect on me in the long run as
I began to hate myself for losing my sight,” he
revealed.
On how they coped, one said, “I coped with
the help of friends. They snapped the pictures for
me and travelled to where they will print them.”
Generally, most respondents were able to pass the
practicals with the help of classmates. These
classmates would help identify the types of
pictures they brought (candid, semi-aware, aware)
and explain the actual content of the pictures to
them so they can have a little grasp of the course.
The narrative from the respondent who was always
sent out for having no camera sums up this
section: “There was an exercise that required
covering an event as a photojournalist. My close
friend in class had to do it for both himself and me
because there was no way I could have done it
myself. Also, the first time I wrote the course, I
failed it because I had a tough time grasping what
the lecturer taught. But the second time I wrote it, I
sailed through with a D-grade. In fact, it was the
toughest course I wrote in the department.”
Challenges encountered in the course, Graphics
of Mass Communication
The challenges on this are captured in the
following responses:
“With eye-sight, I would have understood
page layout, graphic design, seen how some
graphics were drawn. Because I could not see what
was going on during the lecture, I felt so bored in
the class and was sometimes reluctant to attend.”
“I would have seen the things displayed in
class through the projector such as cut-lines, use of
colours, arrangement of page elements (like
headlines, pictures and catch-lines).”
“In the course, we were taught different types
of headlines (like the banner, rider, etc) but
because I cannot see, I can barely identify any of
those headlines.”
“The course was all about design, colour,
drawing and the use of dummy. I remember us
receiving the course with a projector. I always
slept in that lecture because I could not see what
was being displayed on the projector. As it is now,
I cannot design a newspaper or draw a dummy
because of my inability to learn it while in school.”
A graduate respondent said she would have
understood the calculation done when allotting
space for headlines and other elements on the
newspaper page if she had sight.
On coping strategies, most respondents said
that their classmates helped them a lot, with
explanations after class. They also stated that they
focused more on the theoretical part and did a lot
of cramming. Some respondents said they
recorded the lectures and listened attentively to the
verbal descriptions given about graphics in class.
That was what they used to write the exam.
However, one respondent said: “I could not
cope at all in the course because I did not
understand 70 per cent of the lessons. In fact, the
lecturer only pitied me to pass me in the exam.”
These findings are in line with those of Ball
(2017) that memorisation of the material in an
extremely detailed way, though very time-
consuming, was a coping strategy for the blind
students she studied. She also highlighted the need
for giving more time, even one-on-one, to explain
the aspects of the course blind students find
perplexing. While the teachers did this in her
study, fellow students did it in this study. The
findings also affirm Vygotsky's dysontogenesis
theory that recommends memorisation and
amplified verbal description to make up for the
limitations of visually impaired learners
(Vygotsky,1993) as well as his social learning
theory which stresses the need for special attention
from the able to help the disabled advance in their
studies (Gindis, 1999).
130 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
Participation in Newspaper and Magazine
Production practicals
Respondents mentioned that they gave their stories
to their colleagues since the practicals were always
group work. These colleagues read and edited the
stories. Most respondents usually do not
participate in designing the page layout. They
mostly contribute verbally.
Other challenging courses
Several respondents mentioned Natural Science I
and II (GS 105 and 106) because they could not
see what was displayed on the projector. Lecturers
made use of projectors to present things like
diagrams, images of human structures and
calculations. A few respondents also said
Introduction to Film was challenging as they could
not understand the different types of camera shots
and angles taught in the course. For the non-
disabled students, the lecturer brought illustrations
to the class in order to exemplify the shots to them.
The visually impaired could not see the
illustrations and the little explanations from friends
in order to verbalise them were not enough.
Several respondents mentioned Advertising
Creative Strategies and Tactics as they were
unable to write advertising copies and design
advertisements.
On their means of managing the challenges,
for the GS Natural Science courses, respondents
said their friends explained to them the things
displayed on the projector. On Introduction to
Film, they said that only few questions in the
examination focused on camera shots and angles
and this saved them from failing the course. Also,
they met the lecturer to complain about their
inability to understand some of the sight-intensive
parts in the course outline. This again was helpful
as the lecturer was understanding. On Advertising
Creative Strategies and Tactics, the respondents
said they had to pay someone to write and design
advertising copies. During the exam,
considerations were also given to them to answer
questions their answers could come from memory
and they passed.
RQ3: What are the challenges visually impaired
students of Mass Communication at UNN
encounter when carrying out journalistic tasks
during internship?
Internship experience
Students of the Mass Communication Department,
UNN, go for two eight-week internships to work
with media houses and other communication-
related establishments at the end of their second
and third years. Fifteen of the respondents worked
in the electronic media, four respondents worked
in a print medium while six are yet to undergo
internship. On the work roles for the respondents
who worked in the electronic media, most of them
stated that they wrote commentaries, sourced for
news stories and edited them and participated in
panel discussions. Other respondents said they
were not given any particular task. However, they
went on air with the ‘On Air Personalities’ once in
a while. One respondent said she sometimes went
to the ‘Live Studio’ to hear how the presenters did
their jobs.
Most of the print media respondents were not
given specific tasks except to write opinion
articles, some of which were published.
Internship challenges
“My challenge,” one respondent said, “was going
out to the field to cover events. Because of my
visual impairment, people would not allow me to
interview them. I thus did not find the internship
interesting.” Another respondent stated that,
“There were times when the programme producer
made signals to inform us that our microphone was
on but I would not know. That once caused me to
make a big mistake – I kept chatting not knowing
my microphone had been turned on.” Another
challenge faced by some other respondents was
inability to write scripts. Many interns in their
stations went on air to read short news and
continuity announcements but because there was
no way they could read on their own, they were
not given such opportunities. This made them idle
almost throughout their internship.
The main task for another respondent was to
host a programme on air every week day. “The
programme I anchored sometimes required me to
go on air with a programme script especially
during interview sessions with invited guests, but
due to my visual impairment, I resorted to
cramming the interview questions and reciting
them by heart. While on air sometimes, a few
questions might skip my memory (especially at the
middle of the interview) and hence would distort
the flow and objectives of the interview.” He
further stated that he could have adopted the use of
Braille as an alternative to having the interview
questions written down but he did not read Braille
proficiently. Besides this challenge was his
inability to personally handle the audio console
like other presenters in the station. This is because
the console has numerous buttons which have to
be pushed when on air. And also due to his visual
impairment, he could not view the controls on the
computer screen. Hence, he had to always wait for
a producer who will operate the studio equipment
for him.
Adeleke & Ohaja: Identifying and addressing the challenges of studying mass communication…
131
For the print media, one of the respondents
said that there were computers in the news room
with free internet connection which could be used
to source for news online and send to the
appropriate editors for placement in the newspaper
pages but because he is visually impaired, and
since the computers did not have JAWS (speech
software) installed on them, he could not access
them. He had to involve another intern in the
rigorous act of reading out the items displayed on
the computer screen for him and most times, the
intern got tired of helping out.
Most other respondents worked under the
news production department. This department is in
charge of gathering, editing and producing news.
Sometimes, they went out with some reporters to
cover some newsworthy events. At other times,
they joined the copy editors in the reading and
editing of news stories submitted. Their major
challenge was to pick up stories and start editing
on their own. This is because all the stories to be
edited were usually in hard copy. This made them
depend fully on fellow interns and their absence
always rendered them idle.
RQ4: How can inclusion be applied in
personnel, curriculum and facilities to help
visually impaired students of Mass
Communication at UNN?
1. There should be a disability office/resource
room in the department, or maybe one
serving the entire faculty, that will see to the
special academic needs of the visually
impaired students. This office will ensure that
each visually impaired student in the
department receives the special assistance
he/she needs. The disability office will
shoulder the bulk of the responsibilities of
applying inclusion, both personnel and
facilities-wise, in the department. Some of its
functions should include:
a) The provision of study materials in
alternative formats (audio and electronic)
for the accessibility of visually impaired
students of the department or faculty
since many publishers do not readily
provide such blind-friendly formats.
Rowlett (2011) also believed that
alternative formats constitute the most
valuable adjustments that can be made for
disabled students on the issue of
literature.
b) The provision of accessible computers
with the screen reader software to
encourage self studying for the visually
impaired students of the department. This
is because the majority of these students
do not have access to a personal
computer, thereby studying by means of
makeshift materials which in turn makes
them lag behind academically. These
computers, if provided, can also be
employed in the writing of exams by the
visually impaired students, as opposed to
ancient typewriters they are made to write
with. In addition, this office should be
equipped with personnel who can train
the students on how to make use of the
computers to optimal functionality with
the help of assistive technologies like the
JAWS screen reader. These personnel
should preferably be disabled as
Maduagwu and Ajobiewe (2006) suggest.
c) The disability office should help to
convert lecture notes into accessible
formats like audio and pdf which would
then be sent to the students. However,
because of the high volume of notes
concerned, this task could be
accomplished through the service of
volunteers, especially from the student
pool. Centralising this function will save
the visually impaired students the trouble
of seeking help to handle it individually.
These volunteers can also study with the
visually impaired students and take them
through difficult aspects of their courses,
especially those that are sight-intensive.
d) The disability office should be in charge
of ensuring that additional time is allotted
to the visually impaired Mass
Communication students during their
exams, as they require such extra time to
cover up for the period spent listening to,
digesting and responding to questions
read to them by an invigilator.
e) The library at the Mass Communication
Department should be made accessible to
the visually impaired students, by
stocking it with books in audio and
electronic formats. This can be achieved
through the help of the disability office
who will convert the most sought-after
books into accessible formats.
Alternatively, a special library stocked
with relevant accessible materials in
Mass Communication could be set up at
the disability office/resource room where
the visually impaired students of Mass
Communication can visit to study and do
their assignments.
2. Since UNN is a mainstream educational
institution, it is not advisable to design a
132 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
special curriculum that will address some of
the challenges discussed in response to
Research Question Two, as the visually
impaired students of Mass Communication
are few in number and prefer to be taught
alongside their sighted counterparts.
A more beneficial approach to applying inclusion
in the curricular activities of the department for the
benefit of the visually impaired students, therefore,
will be to retain the inclusive setting but with
special assistance for the concerned students. This
special assistance can come through the provision
of a specially-trained instructor in the disability
office whose responsibility will be to help the
students to concretise concepts that are visually or
diagrammatically discussed during lectures.
Also, lecturers, upon realising there are
visually.impaired students in their classes, should
ensure that they are as inclusive as possible in their
teachings by describing illustrations for the benefit
of those with vision limitations, and also making
themselves available, maybe after classes, to
answer further questions from these students for
clarification. Supporting this method, Adekunle
(2011) opined that the teacher should strive to
make as many auditory inputs as possible to help
the visually impaired students in his class.
With the understanding of these lecturers and
the obligated intervention of the disability office,
courses like Photojournalism, Graphics of Mass
Communication and other sight-intensive courses
will, to a great extent, be better understood by the
visually impaired students as inclusion has been
greatly applied personnel-wise to accommodate
their special needs. These requests are directly or
indirectly supported by Article 23 (Section 3; 4; 5
and 12) of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).
Conclusion
This study discovered that the lack of knowledge
of the needs of visually impaired students resulted
in inadequate levels of support and resource
provision for them. This made the accessibility of
text and diagrams, PowerPoint presentations and
the practical tasks of field work, inter alia, very
challenging for such students. Besides these
challenges encountered in classrooms, media firms
do not envision the employment of visually
impaired workers; hence they do not equip their
work environment with assistive technologies for
the visually impaired to perform their tasks
efficiently as reflected in the internship experience
of the respondents.
Therefore, this study calls on concerned
individuals, university authorities, media outfits,
advocacy organisations and the government to
give special consideration to the visually impaired
in the formulation of programmes and policies.
This is needed to create an inclusive and
accommodating society where they can enjoy the
same privileges as their non-disabled
contemporaries. It is also recommended that
lecturers be exposed to techniques for the teaching
of the visually impaired. This is not a call to make
them experts but to sensitise them to the plight of
the visually impaired students and show them how
to carry them along during lectures. In addition,
specialists equipped to train visually impaired
students should be hired, so that they can
undertake the teaching of such students on the
manipulation of assistive technologies at the
university. Thankfully, the university has started
this process through the setting up of a Special
Needs Section in the Central Library which needs
to be more fully equipped and staffed, especially
with the disabled who can teach students with
similar disabilities to theirs how to cope. Head of
departments, deans of faculties, directors of
centres and the Students' Union Government are
also urged to make special provisions in their
budgets for the blind students under them. The
funds therefrom can be used to procure
lecturers/specialists in Braille who can organise
periodic workshops and counsel these students on
how to cope with their academic challenges. In the
same vein, employers in media organisations can
further accommodate impaired interns by
equipping their work environments with assistive
technologies to ensure better work output from and
fulfillment to these interns.
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