Thesis (M.Ed. (Community and Continuing Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / This research is about establishing the needs and assets of a public adult learning
centre for the visually impaired. The research is important because South Africa, as a
signatory to the Salamanca Statement on Principles and Practice in Special Needs
Education (UNESCO, 1994) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities in 2006 (Väyrynen, 2008), has an obligation to ensure the provision of
quality education and training through inclusion. This also includes adult learners. The
research emanated from the assumption that Public Adult Learning Centres for the
Visually Impaired are not well equipped to provide quality education as envisaged by
the Salamanca Statement and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.
In order to resolve this assumption, a qualitative case study with Bosele Public Adult
Learning Centre (BPALC) for the Visually Impaired was designed. The research
participants from this centre were purposely sampled due to the importance of their
shared experiences and opinions in answering the research question. Multiple
perspectives were applied in data collection by means of semi-structured and focus
group interviews and documents were examined and analysed to obtain in-depth
information about the research.
The analysis of the participants’ shared experiences and opinions, combined with
observation and data analysis, assisted in deriving at the conclusion that, although
Bosele is a Public Adult Learning Centre for the visually impaired, it is still deficient in
terms of the capacity to provide quality education as envisaged in the Salamanca
Statement and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The learning
and teaching support materials are inadequate and have not been modified for many
years. The facilitators do not receive the necessary professional support and as such
are inadequately prepared to provide quality education to the visually impaired adult
learners. The available assets within and outside BPALC are not mapped and
therefore not recognized for effective utilization. The teaching, learning and physical
environment around BPALC is not conducive to the promotion of quality education for
visually impaired adults.
iii
To respond to the findings of this research, several recommendations have been
suggested and an empowerment programme has also been provided with a view to
improve the quality of teaching and learning at BPALC. Suggestions for future
research topics have also been made in order to close the gap that exists in research
for the education of learners with visual impairment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/1191 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Sekgobela, Elias Mathea |
| Contributors | Maphutha, M. M. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | x, 97 leaves |
| Relation | Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 7 |
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