Challenges of teaching the deaf-blind learner in an education setting in Johannesburg: Experiences of educators and assistant educators

South African Journal of Communication Disorders

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Challenges of teaching the deaf-blind learner in an education setting in Johannesburg: Experiences of educators and assistant educators
 
Creator Manga, Tejal Masuku, Khetsiwe P.
 
Subject Education;SpeechPathology;Disability deaf-blindness; learners; educators; inclusive education; challenges; South Africa.
Description Background: Evidence suggests that educators of deaf-blind students in the South African context have specific challenges in the educational setting because of their lack of adequate knowledge on deaf-blindness and a lack of sufficient training on communication, teaching and learning strategies.Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the challenges experienced by educators and assistant educators of children with deaf-blindness.Method: Ten educators and assistant educators were selected purposively to participate in the study (Male = 3; Female = 7; age range 31–49 years). Participants were recruited from a school for the deaf-blind in Johannesburg. Participants completed semi-structured interviews on the challenges that they experienced when educating learners who are deaf-blind.Results: Findings from the data after inductive thematic analysis suggested the following: (1) under-preparedness of educators and assistant educators, (2) communication challenges, (3) challenges related to the diversity of deaf-blind learners and (4) lack of support structures for educators and assistant educators.Conclusion: There is a need for ongoing educator training on communication strategies, cultural diversity and inclusive strategies. A collaborative model of delivering training and inclusive education that will encompass educators and therapists as a means of supporting both the educator and the learner who is deaf and blind is needed. Such a collaboration may result in positive outcomes for both the educator and the deaf-blind learner.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2020-06-11
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Semistructured Interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajcd.v67i1.649
 
Source South African Journal of Communication Disorders; Vol 67, No 1 (2020); 7 pages 2225-4765 0379-8046
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/649/1302 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/649/1301 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/649/1303 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/649/1300
 
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Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Tejal Manga; Khetsiwe P. Masuku https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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