CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
4.6 THEME 4: Lecturers’ actual preparation and teaching practices of students with visual
4.6.2 Teaching strategies and evidence for claiming its effectiveness
The lecturers elaborated on the teaching strategies they employed in teaching students with visual
“disabilities”.
Sam elaborated on the teaching strategy he employed for a practical subject (Computer) and a theory subject (e.g. Public Administration)
Sam’s teaching strategy in Computer Practice as a subject:
While I am teaching a visually impaired student to master the keyboard for me it takes about an hour. I have about twenty students, so I must go to each one of these twenty. It is time-consuming but I have no other way around, so I have to go through that because at the end of the day, they must pass. (Sam)
‘The use of inverted commas in this study is used a sign of respect as I was uncertain of the correct term to use to refer to people with no sight’
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Sam in teaching computer used an individualistic approach as his teaching strategy because he provided individual attention to each of the twenty students for them to master a keyboard.
Teaching a keyboard to a student without vision could mean holding their hands to make them feel the keys of the keyboard for them to master where a specific key is. For that reason, Sam also used a sensory approach where he held the students’ hands to make them feel the keyboard. A sensory approach is an approach that advocates for meaning which is communicated through a sense of touch, feeling, or body movement. That is why, Sam used an hour to teach one student to master a keyboard because he must make each student touch and feel the keyboard. Furthermore, since he taught Computer Practice, which is a semester module if twenty hours are solely spent on teaching a keyboard then there will be very little time left for teaching the content of the subject, which might result in the syllabus not being covered timeously. Despite Sam’s comment of an individualistic strategy being time consuming he felt obliged to give individual attention in order to ensure that the students passed. Sam’s teaching strategy of providing individual attention revealed him to be a dedicated lecturer who would do whatever it takes to assist his students to pass.
For theory subjects where Sam had to teach difficult concepts.
You have to spell for them, for example like those concepts because we know khona amanye amagama asengathi anzinyanyana [meaning there are other words which are a bit difficult.] If ever I see that this concept is tricky, it’s a Greek or it’s a French concept I will have to spell it out for them. So that they know it. I try to make as many examples as possible so that they can get the picture of the content of that particular module I will be teaching on that current day. (Sam)
For theory subjects Sam used an auditory teaching strategy where he spelt out the words and explained to students in a manner that created a picture in their minds. An auditory teaching strategy is one that advocates the use of words in order to create an image in a person’s mind. Sam also recognised providing more examples as assisting the students to create more vivid pictures of what is being discussed. Therefore, it could be assumed that the more examples and descriptive explanations are provided to students with visual “disabilities”, the better chances there are for them to comprehend what is being discussed.
Sam is confident that his teaching strategies are effective:
‘The use of inverted commas in this study is used a sign of respect as I was uncertain of the correct term to use to refer to people with no sight’
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They are so fruitful like in reference I just told you some of them have graduated and they are working. For me that is one of the signs that it is working. (Sam)
Sam’s comment suggested that he has pride in the effectiveness of his teaching strategies being effective because they have produced graduates of students he has taught employing auditory and sensory teaching strategies.
Steven elaborating on his teaching strategy:
Mainly it was a lecturing system. Where I would come and stand in front of the class and talk to them. They [students with visual “disabilities”] will listen to me and then they will give back the information to me. They would record [using tape recorders] whatever work we were doing. (Steven)
In Steven’s case, a lecturing teaching strategy was used which is a normal strategy for most lecturers. With this teaching strategy, students with visual “disabilities” were compelled to provide their undivided attention during the lectures, because they had no means of taking down notes other than making a recording of the lecture to act as their notes. This suggests that for student with visual “disabilities” making recordings are their means of taking notes.
Nevertheless, Steven believed that using a lecturing teaching strategy was suitable for students with visual “disabilities” because he explained:
The talking and responding strategy was the successful strategy for me, still today it is.
Talking to them was working for me because what I found about them [students with visual
“disabilities”] is that really they are good listeners. They grab the information as it is. (Steven)
Steven’s discovery of the lecturing teaching strategy was that though students were not taking down notes they could listen well and regurgitate information when needed. Hence, he concluded that a lecturing strategy was successful. It could be concluded therefore, from Steven’s experience that students with visual “disabilities” are good at listening and they can grasp information and reproduce it when needed.
Frank’s teaching strategy:
When I explain a concept, I try to be as broad and as wide as possible. I try and repeat where it is necessary or I see it fit to repeat. I try to assist him to picturise this thing [content being discussed], theoretically because he cannot see the picture and create his own
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picture. You make a picture so that he has a picture of this thing [content being discussed]
in his own mind he turns it into to his own description that he understands it better. (Frank) Frank’s constant utterance of the word ‘try’ suggested that he was not sure if the strategy he employed would work. His doubts were understood as he was never trained to teach such a group of students. Frank mainly used an auditory teaching strategy, though it was indifferent approaches.
This was evident because he would explain the concept broadly to students, repeat the content and explain to create a picture in a student’s mind. In all these instances Frank was using words in order to assist the student to create his own image from which he would understand. From Frank’s teaching strategy, it was learnt that lecturers of students with visual “disabilities” could use words to describe content being discussed and to assist students to create their own image of the content being discussed.
Despite, Frank’s doubt of his teaching strategy, he still provided concrete evidence of his teaching strategy yielding required results.
I’m saying it is working, because if I ask a question I get the correct answer. So that is evidence that it was understood. He is one of my best students. (Frank)
In Frank’s view, his teaching strategies are effective because the student can respond appropriately and the student’s performance attests to it hence, he was proud to say the student is one of his best.
Linda’s teaching strategy:
When I teach I teach like normal, because I don’t want him [the National Certificate Vocational student with visual “disability”] to feel his excluded, I want him to feel like he is accommodated. I come closer to him to explain some of the things especially because I teach Maths, there are drawings, chart, graphs things like that. That he has to see but then because he is unable to see I come closer to him to explain. At times, I even touch him. Use his hands so that he can make something visual in his mind. (Linda)
In Linda’s case two teaching strategies were used interchangeably -an auditory approach and a sensory approach. A sensory approach was used when Linda physically touched the student and assisted the student to draw perhaps a graph or a chart for Mathematics. This suggested that Linda identified that using only words to explain a visual text did not have an impact on the student hence she had to physically touch the student to assist the student to draw a visual text using her hands yet creating it in his mind. Linda also used an auditory approach where she came close to the
‘The use of inverted commas in this study is used a sign of respect as I was uncertain of the correct term to use to refer to people with no sight’
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student to explain content, which meant she used words in explaining. From Linda’s experience, it could be learnt that lecturers teaching students with visual “disabilities” should strike a balance between an explanatory approach and a sensory approach where necessary especially for visual texts, which requires students to visualise the text in their own minds.
Linda affirmed that using both these teaching strategies was effective:
The strategy of touching him is the best for me because he is my best student. He is able to say the correct answers. He is one of my best students. So it is working for me. Also explaining in the manner that draws a picture in his mind. This is my best strategy because at least for him he was visual before. So when I try to explain and give him some pictures does come back. [content being discussed in class.] (Linda)
In Linda’s view, no teaching strategy supersedes the other between the explanatory and the sensory approach, because both these strategies are able to produce a student Linda claims as her best.
Nevertheless, if the student perhaps was born blind maybe it would be a different case because Linda is capitalising on the student’s previous experience of being sighted hence, she says the student is able to relate. It should be noted that the student, who is claimed to be the best by Linda and Frank is the same student. Which suggests that when relevant and appropriate teaching strategies are employed in teaching students with visual “disabilities” they outshine academically.
It could be inferred from the lecturers’ teaching strategies that two teaching strategies are effective in teaching students with visual “disabilities”. An auditory approach where they had to use words in order to create a picture in the student’s mind and a sensory approach where they had to physically touch the students in order to make them touch and feel the object being discussed.