The aim of this investigation was to review the position of the
formal and formative education of the blind in the RSA, to pay
particular attention to crucial problems and, by means of a
scientifically accountable interpretation and evaluation, to
arrive at meaningful recommendations in respect of a system of
education for blind pupils. As regards the situation in the RSA,
various methods were employed to obtain information. Visits were
paid to schools, questionnaires completed by school principals
and members of the staff, and interviews conducted with experts
in various fields. Questionnaires were also sent to schools for
the blind in certain overseas countries and an intensive literature study was undertaken.
Being blind implies particular limitations in comparison with the
seeing person. The blind person's exploration of his world is
hampered; he is deprived, to a certain extent, of his freedom as
a person and limitations are imposed on his potential of self-determination;
his fellow-man may deny his human dignity; his
opportunities and possibilities for self-actualization are restricted, and his future perspective is blurred. Certain educational directives arise from these implications of being blind.
These include the following: The necessity of differentiated
formal and formative education; the preparation of the blind
child for the reality of life among the seeing, but also acknowledgement of the blind person's potential and limitations;
the advancement of the mobility of the blind; the necessity of
the effective use of his remaining senses, and aid to the blind
child in respect of social integration, use of leisure, orientation with regard to the opposite sex, and his creative self-realization.
The NG Kerk has made a particular contribution towards the
establishment of education for the blind in the RSA. Education
for the blind has, in die main, remained centralized at the
School for the Blind at Worcester because the number of blind
pupils has never increased to such an extent to justify a fully
fledged second school for White blind children. Schools for the
visually handicapped (blind and partially sighted children) are
government-aided. The task of the church control bodies of these
schools is, strictly speaking, mainly of a advisory nature. The
fact that financial assistance for expansion, additional staff
and other educational services can be provided by the church control body offers the principals of these schools the opportunity
to display personal initiative in order to eliminate educational
problems.
As in the case of the RSA, there are indications that there is no
significant increase in the number of blind children in overseas
countries, although the percentage of multihandicapped blind children is increasing. Whereas mentally handicapped blind children
are in fact admitted to schools for the blind in the RSA, it is
the tendency in some overseas countries to provide for those children in separate schools or institutions.
Comparative studies have revealed that the young blind child generally takes longer to obtain a grip on reality, is slower to master language and develops at a tardier tempo at the motor and
social level than the normally sighted child. The presence of a
blind child in a family often impairs the parent-child relationship.
For this reason, parents have a need of assistance with regard
to the formal and formative education of their pre-school blind
children. In some overseas countries, such assistance takes the
form of visits to parental homes by teachers and social workers
as well as the establishment of parent clinics which are attended
by parents and their blind toddlers and nursery schools for blind
children.
There are three factors basic to the uncertainty in respect of
the applicability of a numerical criterion as a yardstick for
admission to schools for the blind, viz: The possibility of a
faulty evaluation on the part of the ophthalmologist; the fact
that visually handicapped children sometimes use their remaining
vision in totally different ways, and the uncertainty with regard
to the determination of the progressiveness of the eye condition.
At some schools for the blind in overseas countries, the inflexible separation of braille candidates and the partially sighted
is eliminated by instructing border-line eases through the tactile as well as the visual medium.
School-going pupils may be divided into three categories, viz
pupils who are prepared for entry into sheltered workshops;
pupils who, after receiving vocational training at school, make
a direct entry into the open labour market and pupils who complete their secondary school careers successfully and continue
their training at tertiary level. This provides an indication
of the comprehensive nature of the School for the Blind at
Worcester.
As regards pre-prima~ blind children, they are provided for,
from the approximate age of five years, in a preparatory class
which offers a formative educational programme. The instruction
programme in this class includes, inter alia, number concepts,
religion, oral work, singing and music, elementary handwork and
the elementary principles of braille. The extramural programme
of these children is concentrated in particular on the promotion
of their orientation in respect of reality, socialization and
mobility. During the exploratory visits to schools for the blind,
it appeared that primary school teachers succeed in individualizing the instruction to a considerable extent, in ensuring the involvement of the blind child in the classroom activities and in
breaking through his wall of isolation. They are also capable of
integrating educational aids in an accountable manner and to give
priority to assisting the young blind child in his development towards independence. At the School for the Blind, remedial education is offered in Adjustment classes, whereas mentally retarded
blind pupils are transferred to Special classes.
Syllabuses and curricula offered in the secondary section of the
School for the Blind are basically similar to those at schools for
normally sighted pupils. Differentiation within the class context
occurs mainly by devoting individual attention to pupils, interclass grouping, variation in the rate of progress and the elimination of more difficult sections of the subject-matter for less
gifted pupils. The matriculation results of the School for the
Blind compare extremely favourable with those of schools for
normally sighted pupils.
It appears from the educational programme which is offered that
specific attempts are made to cope with the unique problems which
confront the education of the blind. There is differentiation
in respect of the various aspects of the educational programme.
These methods of differentiation refer to blind pupils among themselves as well as to blind pupils in contrast with normally
sighted pupils. By employing an adaptable approach, considerable
progress has already been made towards extending effectively the
educational programme for the blind in the light of the blind
pupil's needs and the demands of a seeing world.
As regards vocational training at the School for the Blind,
provision is made for various categories of blind children.
The most important problems which are experienced in this regard are the limited occupational opportunities existing for
the blind, which consequently hamper the extension of vocational training at the school. The nature of the vocational training of the blind in various overseas countries is largely
similar to that offered in this country. Unlike the practical
situation at the School for the Blind at Worcester, general
education still forms an integral part of vocational training
programmes at schools and training institutions for the blind
in England and Belguim, in particular.
A considerable number of the teaching staff at the School for
the Blind at Worcester do not possess the Diploma in Special
Education. This may be attributed to the fact that some teachers took the former internal course which the school itself
offered; that others were trained abroad; that some have had
so many years of teaching experience that further training is
not deemed necessary and that others are still engaged in the
course. In addition to the tertiary training of the staff,
particular attention is devoted to in-service training at
schools for the blind in the RSA.
The improvement in the course of time in the staff position
at schools for the blind in the RSA indicates that, with the
aid and co-operation of the responsible departments, much has
been achieved. However, the fact that certain class groups
have, of necessity, to be grouped together and that certain
posts are financed by church control bodies' would indicate
that problems regarding adequate teaching staff are constantly
being experienced. The comprehensive character of the School
for the Blind, in particular, renders liberal staffing essential.
The scope of psychological and guidance services at schools for
visually handicapped is impressive. Pedodiagnosis is undertaken
and individual assistance is provided in respect of pupils with
problems pertaining to the person structure; complete personal
profiles of pupils are drawn up; remedial instruction is given
on an individual basis; play therapy is applied and guidance
offered with regard to the choice of subjects, field of study
and occupation. However, problems are experienced in obtaining
suitable evaluation media.
Ophthalmic, optometric, medical, physiotherapeutic and speech
therapeutic services, on a full-time or part-time basis, are
available at schools for the visually handicapped in the RSA.
The increasing number of multihandicapped blind children demands that medical and paramedical services should be concentrated to a greater extent on the needs of these children.
The provision and use of educational aids which render possible
and facilitate learning through the tactile and auditive medium
are directly related to the degree of success achieved in the
teaching of the blind. The School for the Blind at Worcester
has a tape recording studio and a braille printing works. In
order to try and ensure that the blind child will arrive at
meaningful interpretation and the accurate forming of concepts,
use is made, inter alia, of true-to-life models which the child
can feel.
The hostel as an educational milieu has been established by the educational authorities but does not, as such, constitute a natural
educational environment. Justice can only be done to the task
of education in the hostel if the child accepts the authority of
the house parents, education by means of identification succeeds, house parents are required to assume responsibility for
educating only a fairly small group of children and one guards
against the real danger of isolating the blind child. The considerably distances between many parental homes and the School
for the Blind at Worcester cause some pupils to visit their
parents at home comparatively rarely and liaison between parents
and staff is also affected as a result.
Apart from the more formal educational, training and guidance
programmes which are offered, schools for the blind have a
particular responsibility in various other respects. Instruction in orientation and mobility, as well as in the mastery of
everyday household tasks, is provided at the School for the
Blind at Worcester. An important aim of the participation of
the blind in recreational and cultural activities is to promote
their social integration in the seeing community. Various
schools for the blind in overseas countries devote attention
to sex education. The formal sex and marriage guidance programme
which is offered at the Bartimeus Institute in Zeist (Nether=
lands) is regarded as successful and even parents of blind day
scholars have requested that their children be included in this
programme.
Fields of study in which blind school-leavers of the School for
the Blind continue their studies at tertiary training institutions
are the following: Theology, law, teaching, physiotherapy, social work and music. Students sometimes experience specific problems in obtaining textbooks in braille or on tape. Fields of
study in which some blind persons are studying at the tertiary
level in overseas countries but which have not, at this stage
been established as fields of study with occupational possibilities for the blind are nursing, programming, journalism and the
natural sciences.
In addition to the School for the Blind, there are various bodies
which concern themselves with the occupational placement of the
blind, as well as with after-care on behalf of blind persons who
pursue occupations. The major problem with regard to the occupational placement of the blind is the fact that occupational opportunities are limited which renders difficult an accountable occupational choice on the part of the blind person. Blind persons
in the United States of America enter a wider variety of occupations than in the case of any other country involved in the investigation. The exploration of accessible occupations for the
blind in the USA is based mainly on occupational analysis and various occupations are split up in such a way that blind persons
may be integrated productively.
In the light of the investigation, recommendations were made in
respect of the following aspects of the education for the blind
in the RSA:
1. The control of education for blind pupils.
2. Certain organizational aspects of the education for blind
pupils.
3. Provision for the pre-school blind child.
4. Measures with reference to the admission of pupils to schools
for the blind.
5. Differentiation in various study courses with reference to
different categories of blind pupils.
6. The curricula with reference to various study courses and
school phases.
7. Grouping of pupils and, in particular, the combined instruction of blind and partially sighted pupils (border-line cases)
in the classroom.
8. Continued vocational training at schools for the blind and
the nature of the vocational training courses.
9. The training of teaching staff.
10. Staffing at schools for the blind.
11. Psychological and guidance services at schools for the blind.
12. The production of literature in braille and on tape and the
manufacture of other educational aids.
13. The integration of braille candidates in ophthalmic and optometric services and the provision of medical and paramedical
services with reference to multihandicapped blind children.
14. Measures regarding residential schools for the blind.
15. The expansion of the teaching of orientation and mobility to
blind children, use of leisure, the social integration of the
blind child, marriage and sex guidance to blind children, and
the creation of opportunities for blind children to realise
their creative potential.
16. Measures to promote the occupational placement of blind school-leavers.
17. The expansion of occupational opportunities for the blind.
These recommendations with regard to the formal and formative education of the blind in the RSA envisage the introduction of certain essential innovations, the eliminations of existing crucial
problems and the extension of differentiated education. / Proefskrif--PU vir CHO
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/9556 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Groenewald, Frederik Pieter |
| Publisher | Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | other |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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