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2nd Workshop
on
Training of Teachers of the Visually Impaired in Europe

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13. Report on the results of a questionnaire relating to the list of competencies(SEE CHAPTER 5)

Report

Participants at the workshop were provided with the document "Standards required by Specialist Teachers of Children with a Visual Impairment" as part of their pre-workshop reader. On the last day of the workshop, they were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to this document. A total of 41 questionnaires were completed partly or fully.
The questionnaire was divided up into two parts (competencies and abilities) and each part into 5 subsections (1,2,3,4.1 and 4.2) and were asked to reply using a scale of 1 - 5. Participants were asked for each competency to:

  1. grade the importance of the competency (1 not important - 5 very important)
  2. state if their school paid sufficient attention to the competency (1 insufficiently - 5 fully)
  3. rate the new ideas gained from workshop (1 none - 5 many)

In addition, everyone had the opportunity to add to the list of competencies and to make suggestions for ways of working together across Europe.

Summary of replies

Part 1.

Everyone agreed that the competencies were important. However, some of the participants were unable to respond to the second subsection as they were not involved directly with teacher training. Although subsection 3 appears to have a lower average score, scores were high from those participants attending the different workshops eg residual vision. Interestingly, a high proportion of participants wanted help from other countries to help with knowledge about most competencies except anatomy physiology and pathologies of the visual system as this was an area that most participants thought were covered sufficiently in their schools.
No clear pattern emerged regarding any geographical difference in terms of help needed(subsection 4.1) but the scores clearly indicated that colleagues need support in many areas. Colleagues in 'Western' European had very similar needs to those in other areas of Europe. Four examples of cross-European needs include competencies relating to Information Technology, Multiple disabilities, Functional Vision and Mobility and ADL. Those countries that do not have a well established itinerant teacher service indicated that this was an area of urgent need. Participants within the same institution often expressed very different and extreme needs.
It would appear that some participants misunderstood the scoring for the final subsection (4.2) as they had indicated a maximum score for the previous section requiring help and then entered a similar score stating that they could assist colleagues in other countries in this area! However, some useful information emerged for future consideration indicating areas of expertise across Europe.
Additional competencies listed reflect, in some instances, more than one similar reply.

Additional competency

  1. educational counselling for teachers and parents
  2. working with families and early intervention
  3. differentiation of curriculum to meet the wide range of special needs
  4. sexual and social development of children with a visual impairment

Additional Abilities

  1. teach social skills
  2. work with emotional themes
  3. communicate and cope with own feelings
  4. set short term targets for children eg MDVI and evaluate them
  5. appropriate attitude to teach MDVI
  6. work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
  7. team teach

Part 2

Several participants felt that they were unable to complete this part of the questionnaire as they did not have a practicum as part of their training or that they were not directly involved in the training of teachers. Other participants indicated that other subsections were not relevant, for example, if a country did not have an itinerant service then some of the questions regarding 'ability' 15 could not be answered.

For subsection 1 there was again a very high rate of agreement about the importance of teachers demonstrating each of the 18 abilities and similarly the importance given to them in the training courses (subsection 2).

As expected, the lower scores for subsection 3 reflected the attendance of participants at the individual workshops. The higher scores for 'abilities' 1 and 13 perhaps indicates the incidental exchange of information throughout the 4 days.

Similar comments to those for Part 1 can be made about subsections 4.1 and 4.2. It is clear from the replies that there is a need for further exchange of information across Europe and that in some country there is an individual or institution with the knowledge and skills ready for sharing. Perhaps a next logical step would be to do an audit of what can be offered and by whom and how this could be accomplished.

The list of other 'abilities' do occur within the frame of the paper but some participants felt they they needed to be itemised individually.

Types of co-operation

There was a very good response to this section demonstrating the commitment by everyone for continued contact in different ways (eg email, exchanges, the ICEVI webpage etc) and the desire for another similar workshop in the future.

Desired type of co-operation

  1. exchange of experiences, methods and materials
  2. exchange of curricula, course programs
  3. information regarding course evaluation
  4. exchange programs for students
  5. access to internet information and sharing information
  6. direct links with one or more special schools in different countries
  7. regular workshops focussed on specific areas eg MDVI, LVAs
  8. further workshops like Bratislava
  9. access to professional journals
  10. organised study with networks
  11. small projects on specific topics
  12. knowledge of organising special needs in a country at a ministerial level
  13. models of flexible learning using IT
  14. research

Summary of the replies to the questionnaire regarding the desired competencies of teachers of the visually impaired

The teacher should be able to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of:

  1 1 2 2 3 3 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.2
Competency Number of replies (max 41) Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41) Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5)
1. current and local developments and legislation in curriculum and assessment and their implications for learners with a visual impairment 41 3.98 36 3.5 34 2.38 39 2.71 38 2.68
2. the anatomy and physiology of the eye and an understanding of visual functioning 41 4.63 38 4.13 28 2.1 37 2.32 38 1.1
3.the educational implications of pathology and treatment of eye diseases and conditions 41 4.58 37 4.05 29 2.27 38 2.89 38 3.02
4. the implications of visual impairment on physical, cognitive, emotional, social and language development and their effect upon the individual�s independence; 41 4.92 37 4.24 31 3.12 37 3.91 37 3.16
5. the development of secondary senses (hearing, touch etc.) when primary sense is impaired 41 4.56 38 3.73 29 2.41 37 3.75 37 2.83
6. the appropriate methods of teaching and communication for children and young people who have visual impairment including those with multiple or dual sensory impairment 41 4.7 37 3.54 29 2.89 37 3.75 37 3.24
7. the principles of assessment of functional vision 40 4.53 37 3.75 30 2.76 37 3.67 36 3.25
8. appropriate strategies to enhance functional vision 41 4.93 37 3.75 31 2.38 36 3.8 36 3.13
9. an awareness of the principles of mobility and ADL training; 41 4.68 38 3.63 30 2.46 38 3.82 38 3.87
10. the appropriate information and communication technology and its applications for those with visual impairment 41 4.43 38 3.26 32 2.68 37 3.56 38 2.31
11. the distinction between the roles of a teacher in a special school; an itinerant teacher or a resource teacher in a mainstream school or college 41 4.24 36 3.33 31 1.91 38 3.28 37 2.72
12. the range and functions of support services available to those with a visual impairment 41 4.36 37 3.35 30 2.4 37 3.24 37 2.75
13. research methodologies and how to interpret research findings 41 4.12 38 3.5 29 2.58 37 3.48 34 2.82

The teacher should be able to demonstrate an ability to:

  1 1 2 2 3 3 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.2
Ability Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5) Number of replies (max 41 Average (max 5)
1. Carry out an appropriate assessment of the educational needs of children and young persons with a visual impairment and to identify and organise assessment in other areas and to present a report of the assessment 37 4.67 33 3.54 25 3.36  35 3.77 34 3.17
2. use information gathered from assessment to design and manage an adapted teaching programme, taking account of the competing demands of the national curriculum and the special curriculum 37 4.94 36 3.13 25 2.64 35 3.54 34 3
3. use information gathered from ongoing assessment to design an appropriate physical and social learning environment 37 4.83 33 3.48 26 2.69 35 3.85 34 3.41
4. monitor and evaluate the implementation of individual student programs and learning environments and plan the next stage in the education of the individual 37 4.72 33 3.75 26 2.69 35 3.54 34 3.14
5. implement a teaching program to train residual vision and evaluate its effectiveness 37 4.51 32 3.43 25 2.6 34 3.23 33 3.33
6. design, produce, present and evaluate material in the appropriate medium for all students with visual. impairment e.g.objects of reference, tactile diagrams, braille and in large print using both traditional methods and new technology 27 4.21 33 3.6 24 2.45 35 3.57 34 3.05
7. co-operate with a qualified mobility specialist in the design and delivering of mobility programs 37 4.64 33 3.63 26 2 35 2.77 34 3.4
8. employ appropriate strategies for teaching literacy and numeracy skills in the appropriate media to the young braille user 37 4.75 33 4.03 26 2.03 35 3.14 34 3.26
9. use appropriate strategies for teaching the braille code to late beginners 37 4.43 33 3.63 24 1.91 34 3.35 35 3.06
10. plan and evaluate for the application of available micro technology in meeting the needs of children and young people with visual impairment 37 4.32 33 3.24 24 2.37 35 3.8 33 2.72
11. facilitate the use of a range of hardware and software and employ criteria for evaluating usefulness and appropriateness 37 4.18 33 2.79 26 2.19 35 3.82 33 2.69
12. use established networks to access resources 37 4.21 33 2.75 31 3.7 34 4 33 2.96
13. lead training sessions for teachers, non-teaching assistants, parents and relevant others in the field of visual impairment 37 4.72 33 3.27 26 3.46 33 3.6 32 2.78
14. assist parents and learners to participate in decision making processes 37 4.89 33 2.63 25 2.88 33 3.3 33 2.69
15. support the inclusion of a visually impaired child or young person in the school and community 37 4.83 33 4.18 26 2.96 33 3.57 33 3.21
16. demonstrate a range inter-personal skills; appropriate for working with children, parents and professionals 37 4.78 33 3.33 26 3.07 34 3.67 33 2.19
17. demonstrate the above mentioned competencies in all situations and settings involving children and young people with a visual impairment 37 4.7 33 3.45 23 2.73 33 3.78 33 2.69
18. carry out simple research using a range of methods eg observation 37 4.48 33 3.75 24 2.79 34 3.67 33 3.06

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