Learning Braille at Higher Education Level: Exploring the Perception of Prospective Special Education Teachers
Abstract
Purpose: Braille learning is important for teaching students with visual impairment. This study intended to seek the perception of pre-service teachers who obtain degree in special education with the compulsion of learning Braille.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This was exploratory and qualitative research. The Sample of study included pre-service teachers (N = 21) studying at higher education level. Convenient sampling technique was used to collect data for this study. A self-developed semi-structured interview protocol was instrument to collect data. The validity of the instrument was assured by the expert opinion (N=03). The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed through an extensive literature review. The data were analyzed through open coding of the interview transcription to draw categories and themes. There were four major themes emerged i.e challenges in learning Braille, reading techniques, Braille comprehension, and Braille Rules.
Findings: The findings of the study revealed more difficulty in reading Braille in grade two as compare to Braille writing, no training in the haptic sense in higher education institutes, and a lack of proper training courses in teaching and learning braille.
Implications/Originality/Value: The study recommends appropriate support by the institutes and particular trainings and courses for Braille learning.
Downloads
Article Analytics Summary
References
Hamid, A. & LaRose, S. L. (2021). Effectiveness of Braille Reading Training in Virtual Classroom due to Pandemic COVID-19 in Pakistan. Journal of Inclusive Education, 5(1), 57–74.
Argyropoulos, V. S., & Martos, A. C. (2006). Braille literacy skills: An analysis of the concept of spelling. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100(11), 676-686. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X0610001106
Miller, D. (2017). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research (Vols. 1-2). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. DOI: 10.4135/9781446294406 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446294406
Aspers, P. & Corte, U. (2019). What is Qualitative in Qualitative Research. Qual Social, 42, 139–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-019-9413-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-019-9413-7
Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design. Washington: Sage Publications. 7(4).
Casula, M., Rangarajan, N. & Shields, P. (2021). The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Qual Quant, 55, 1703–1725. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9
Farnsworth, C., J. R. (2007). Uncontracted or contracted braille for emergent readers: A pilot study. RE: View, 38(4), 147-156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3200/REVU.38.4.147-156
Koenig, A.J., & Holbrook, M.C. (2000). Ensuring high-quality instruction for students in braille literacy programs. J Vis Impair Blind, 94(11):677–694. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X0009401102
Michael, J. T, & Eileen, W. H. (2015). Is literacy for blind people under threat? Does braille have a future? British Journal of Visual Impairment. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619615591866 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619615591866
Musgrove M, Yudin M. K. (2013). Dear Colleague letter on Braille. Washington, DC; https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/brailledcl-6-19-13.pdf
Mohammed, A. S., Adugnaw, A., Mengistie, D., Yigizie, Y., Yonas, A. & Baye, Dagnew, (2022).Visual impairment and its predictors among people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus at Dessie town hospitals, Northeast Ethiopia: an institution-based cross-sectional study. BMC Ophthalmology, (22), 52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-022-02292-3
Nadeem, R. (2015). Selecting Literacy Approaches in Braille for Students with Visual Impairment (Master thesis). University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Nadeem, M., Aziz, N., Sajjad, U., Aziz, F., & Shaikh, H. (2016). A comparative analysis of Braille generation technologies. In 2016 International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (ICARM) (pp. 294–299). Macau, China: IEEE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICARM.2016.7606935
Martiniello, N. Barlow, M. & Wittich, M. (2021). Exploring Correlates of Braille Reading Performance in Working-age and Older Adults with Visual Impairments. Scientific Studies of Reading. doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2021.1969402CrossMark Logo DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2021.1969402
National Federation of the Blind (NFB). (2009). The Braille literacy crisis in America. Available from https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/braille_literacy_report_web.pdf.
Perkins School for the blind. (2018). https://www.perkins.org/resource/world-braille-usage/.
Willings. (2017). Teaching Visually Impaired. https://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/brailleinstruction.html.
Bin, R., Kusuma, H., & Tasripan. (2021). Image processing-based braille document copying system as additional feature for ITS’s braille printer. Peer review under the responsibility of the scientific committee of the Sixth Information Systems International Conference. Retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia.1877-0509.
McCall, S., McLinden, M., & Douglas, G. (2011). A review of the literature into effective practice in teaching literacy through Braille. VICTAR, University of Birmingham; published by RNIBClark-
Spungin, S. J., (2012). WBU External Position Statement; Braille literacy: Published by World Blind Union Office, 1929 Bayview Avenue Toronto, ON M4G 3E8
UNESCO. (2013). World braille usage. Paris, France; Washington, DC: Perkins, the International Council on English Braille, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
Papadimitriou, V. (2019). Tracing the effectiveness of braille reading patterns in individuals with blindness: Handedness and error analysis. British Journal of Visual Impairment https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619619892996 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619619892996
Argyropoulos, V., Hathazi, A., & Nikolaraizi, M. (2019).Undergraduate Student Education Programs Regarding Braille Literacy. Higher Education Studies, 9(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v9n4p44
Copyright (c) 2022 Kashif Iqbal, Samina Ashraf, Aqsa Amjad
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
CSRC Publishing and JBSEE adhere to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in JBSEE agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International). Under this license, the authors published in JBSEE retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of SBSEE are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. CSRC Publishing and JBSEE follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.
