Teachers’ Perceptions Towards The Inclusion Of Learners With Visual Impairment In Inclusive Secondary Schools

The study investigated secondary school teachers’ perception towards the inclusion of learners with visual impairment in inclusive secondary schools. The specific intention was find out teachers’ understanding about inclusive education for the visually impaired learners, to examine based on age, gender and teaching experience teachers’ attitude towards the inclusion of learners with visual impairment. In addition, it intended to explore teachers’ perception about their competence to handle learners with visual impairment and to examine teachers’perception about the adequacy of schools resources to enable the inclusion of visually impaired learners. The study employed qualitative case study and purposive sampling to select one high school located in Maseru district. Six teachers; three regular teachers and three regular teachers (Braille transcribers) took part in the study. Non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and thematic content analysis was used to analyse data.The findings revealed that there was insufficient knowledge about inclusive education for the visually impaired learners. The findings further revealed that factors such as age, gender and experience had no influence on teachers’attitude towards the inclusion of learners with VI; instead factors such as lack of knowledge, skills, proper infrastructure, teaching and learning materials seemed to bring about teachers’ negative attitudes towards the inclusion of learners with visual impairment. It was also revealed that lack of training resulted to teachers feeling less confident about their skills to adapt instructions and modify teaching environments to accommodate learners with visual impairment. In addition, lack of resources such as teaching and learning material, assistive tools, infrastructure and manpower also proved to contribute towards lowering teachers’morale about the inclusion of learners with visual impairment.After the examination of the study findings, various recommendations were made to the Ministry of Education and Training, school management and teachers to address the impediments that influence teachers’negative attitudes towards the inclusion of learners with visual impairment.