Opinions of teachers about teaching pupils with visual impairment in Ada east district in the greater Accra region

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to find out the opinions teachers have about teaching pupils with visual impairments in some selected inclusive schools in the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The cross-sectional design was used. The sample size was 50 and a simple random technique was used to select a sample size. The research instrument used was a Likert scale questionnaire. The quantitative data from the questionnaire were analysed with simple percentages and the results were represented on frequency tables. The study found that there are negative opinions among teachers when it comes to their quest to teach children who are visually impaired in inclusive classrooms. Again, it was established that some of the factors that inform teachers’ opinions include inadequate training, inability to read Braille, lower levels of experience with the teaching of children who are visually impaired, and inadequate resources for teaching, among others. The study further found that there were inadequate resources available for the effective teaching of children who are visually impaired in the inclusive schools where the study was undertaken. It also came to light that some other challenges identified with the resources included, but not limited to, the unavailability of embossers, braille sheets, and reading stands that would ensure smooth teaching and learning in these schools. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that the government must encourage greater awareness of issues concerning disability. Also, the Ghana Education Service should organize in-service training for the teachers to ensure that they acquire the requisite skills to manage these classes of pupils in the inclusive setting. Again, it was recommended that the government and other stakeholders should ensure that there are in-service trainings that would help teachers in inclusive classrooms to acquire knowledge on how to use assistive devices.