Educating Learners With Visual Impairment In Zambia

By Dr. Annie Penda

There is sight beyond what we see with our naked eyes. The human brain has the power to figure out what we cannot see. Education is a powerful tool which can boost the mind of children without sight to see beyond sight using their finger tips and the remaining senses, and this helps them to learn, write examinations at school, be certified and be employed like any other learner with sight. My passion and full joy lies in seeing children without sight grow, live, work and be educated like anybody else. This book is an illustration on how children without sight can be supported with concerted efforts of others which aims to grant them their right to an education.

About the Author

Annie Penda is a lecturer in the Department of Special Education at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kabwe Zambia and teaches both the undergraduate and post graduate students, and an affiliated member of the Special Education Association of Zambia (SEAZ). She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Education (Special Education) at the University of Zambia, earned a Master’s degree in Special and Inclusive Education from Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland, and holds a doctorate in Special Education from the University of Zambia. Dr Penda also has a Diploma in Education Management from the National In-Service Teacher Training College (NISTICO) in Chalimbana, a Certificate in Special Education (for learners with visual impairment) from the Zambia Institute for Special Education (ZAMISE), and a Primary Teacher’s Certificate from Kasama Teachers Training College.

Dr Penda has 24 years of teaching experience, including at Saint Therese Secondary School in the Northern Province and at Mporokoso School for the Blind for 13 years. She authored the book Educating our Future Policy and Impact on Education of Visually Impaired in Zambia, and has published several articles in academic journals with a particular interest or focus on learners with visual impairment and learners with disabilities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Annie Penda
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005690632

Book preview

EDUCATING LEARNERS

WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

IN ZAMBIA

Dr. Annie Penda

Copyright © 2020 Dr. Annie Penda

Published by Dr. Annie Penda Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Dr. Annie Penda using Reach Publishers’ services,

Edited by Caroline Webb for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Abstract

1. History of Formal Education of Learners

With Visual Impairment in Zambia

2. Teaching Learners With Visual Impairment

3. Support Structures

4. Parental Involvement

5. Mobility, Orientation and Life Skills

Conclusion

About the Author

References

Publications by the Author

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all who teach learners with visual impairment in Zambia and who have a zeal for ensuring that everyone knows what it takes to educate these learners. It is also dedicated to my father, Zakalia Mwelwa Mwaba Penda, and my mother, Samfrosa Chota Kaputula, who inspired me greatly in their service to the needy.

Acknowledgements

This book would not have come about without the professional guidance offered to me. It is not possible to give credit to all those who contributed in various ways, but I would like to pay a heartfelt sincere tribute to my colleague, Mr Cheelo Charles, a lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University, who tirelessly provided me with required information. I am also grateful to Dr Ndhlovu Daniel for his fatherly support while I was researching information for this book. I further thank four teachers as respondents in the two study schools for their valuable co-operation, and my family for their moral support and encouragement. Finally, I salute those whose names I have not mentioned for whatever role they played while I was writing this book.

Preface

The total number of school-going children with visual impairment in Zambia is 10 564, of which 5 576 are boys and 4 988 are girls (Educational Statistical Bulletin, 2013).

Visual impairment is a loss of vision or some aspect of vision that reduces one’s ability to see. Mason (2001) defined a visually impaired person as one who has no vision or whose vision acuity is limited. Thus, there two categories of visual impairment: that of being totally blind and that of being partially sighted.

A totally blind person has total visual loss and receives no useful information through their senses of vision, and must use tactile, auditory and the remaining senses for all learning. Most pupils who are blind use braille as means of communication.

However, people who have been blind from birth or infancy (who are termed as early blind) sometimes find raised-line or braille challenging. Interestingly, people who lose their vision later in life (are termed as the later blind) frequently interpret raised outlines or braille more readily than early blind individuals do (Kennedy, 1993). One likely explanation is that the later blind have a double advantage in these tasks: they are typically more familiar with what things look like than are the early blind. Thus, different onset age of visual impairment leads to different levels of raised-line reading.

A person who is partially sighted has some remaining vision or low vision, and uses it as a primary means of learning and generally is able to read large print.

There are a number of international conventions and treaties aimed at granting persons with disabilities, which includes learners with visual impairment, a right to education. These are discussed in detail in Chapter 3.

I trained and graduated with a certificate as a primary-school teacher, and my first deployment was at a special school for the blind. I knew nothing about this type of learners, but through this encounter I developed a greater interest in serving them.

There are many books about teaching learners with visual impairment. However, in most cases these books focus on how to teach them in the classroom, and very little attention (or no attention) is given to what it takes to educate them collectively with input from teachers and the community. In addition, very few books provide a Zambian context. It is hoped that this book will fill this gap.

This book is aimed at establishing what it takes to educate a learner with visual impairment in a Zambian context. The main objective was to harmonize a match between what is required to teach these learners and the practice in the learning institutions or schools and society at large, in order for them to receive effective education. The institutions refer to all of those places offering education to learners with visual impairment; these could be an ordinary school, inclusive school, resource room, special education unit, special school, specialised facilities (such as hospital units), home-based

Reviews for Educating Learners With Visual Impairment In Zambia

[Emmanuel Lyombe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

glad to have found some helpful and very educative information