Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Inclusive learning interactions: the design of educational materials
for visually impaired children

Cecilia Guarnieri Batista (doctor) & Adriana Lia Friszman de Laplane (doctor)
Cepre – FCM – Campinas State University (Unicamp), São Paulo, Brasil
cecigb@fcm.unicamp.br & adrifri@fcm.unicamp.br
Rua Tessália V. Camargo, 126.   CP 6111.
13084-971 Campinas, SP, Brazil

            Visually impaired children in inclusive educational settings

            The design of special educational materials for blind and low-vision pupils/students is part of a well developed tradition in many countries. The use of these materials provides the means for the pupils/students’ participation in the educational system.  Among these, the Braille system has an unquestionable value as an alternative means of providing access to written material for the blind. Braille is a code to which every written material can be converted and it provides independence and privacy to the user.  The same can be said about optical and non-optical devices for children with low vision (Carvalho, Gasparetto, Venturini & Kara-José, 1992).  There is a wide range of devices and adaptations that allow for access to the materials regularly used by teachers in schools, through magnification, use of special boards, special lighting, control of contrast, etc.

            One of the more challenging tasks in designing educational materials is to get results that suit best a diverse population, due to the fact that it may have different characteristics that turn the task rather difficult.           

The present study is based on the analysis of systematic observations of the participation of visually impaired children in after-school groups which gather for weekly meetings at a rehabilitation center (Cepre) belonging to Campinas State University, in Brazil.  The participants are children whose ages range from 4 to 14.  The groups are coordinated by the center’s staff and by university students and research assistants.  The small groups aim to provide an alternative space for interaction and social development.  During the sessions (that last two hours), the children learn, play, read and write and engage in different kinds of activities that include: cooking, playing games, singing, listening to stories, reading books, drawing, painting and constructing things, among others.

All activities are designed to offer a space of meaningful interaction and learning for participants and to increase the opportunities for the change of roles and positions within the group.  The criteria used to organize the groups are the children’s age and general interests and skills.  This means that children are not separated by the type of impairment they carry.  Blind children and children with low-vision participate together.  These criteria are based in an inclusive principle: the one that states that, given the right setting, all children can learn together.  However, to create and put to work this kind of environment takes planning, experimenting and many times constructing materials that could be used either by blind or partially sighted children.

The theoretical premises that guide our work draw on Vygotsky’s ideas about the centrality of language and interaction for human development.  Conceiving human development as cultural, Vygotsky advanced the idea that the child, immersed in culture since birth, will internalize ways of thinking and culture, mainly through language and social interaction.  This is why it is so important to provide a friendly social environment to promote the children’s development.  According to Vygotsky (1987a), language has multiple functions.  Language organizes the thinking processes and plays a part in planning, organizing and controlling one’s own behavior.  Another important function of language is communication.  Specially when considering children with visual impairments (low vision and blindness) language becomes one of the privileged channels of communication with the social environment.  When thinking of ways of enhancing these children’s learning capabilities and possibilities of knowledge construction, it is important to consider language as a powerful means that, despite all the existing differences between children, represents what they all have in common: the possibility to share meanings, concepts, ideas and words.

The premises that guide our practice in the group settings are important to understand the search of materials and ways of interacting that allow full participation to all children.  In this sense, we prioritize materials and organize activities in order to provide accessibility to children with different characteristics.  The stated theoretical premises oppose to some common-sense ideas that, at least, in the Brazilian educational context, are still present.  

            School teachers´ conceptions about the learning process and resources for blind pupils

A few years ago we conducted a research with teachers of low-vision and blind children.  The goal of the research was to find out how teachers conceived learning processes and ways of thinking and constructing knowledge by visually impaired pupils.

The results of the research showed that most teachers (among the 25 subjects) within the group see concepts as mental representations or mental copies of real objects.  Also recognizable was the idea that emphasized the linkage between the possibility of concept formation and the integrity of the sensorial channels.  The senses were regarded as the main instruments for knowledge construction, and most teachers attributed to the sense of touch great importance in teaching and learning processes.  The conceptions presented by the teachers were summarized and commented as follows:

1- Tactile discrimination is a basic ability that must be well trained by blind children.  

The underlying idea is that, for blind persons, touch is the principal mode of getting information.  This is why it must be trained using activities that promote the competence to discriminate different materials and different aspects of those materials: size, shape, texture.  It is emphasized the need to “prepare” the sense of touch.   Suggestions are made for the training of tactile sensibility, with the presentation of gradients of stimuli that vary in one single dimension (ex: stripes of sandpaper with different degrees of thickness).

Current educational practices emphasize that training of different abilities (ex: fine motor coordination, perceptual discrimination, etc) should be done in the context of meaningful tasks, and not as repetitive and isolated exercises.  From our point of view, the same principle should be applied to blind children.

            2- What can not be apprehended by the eye should be thought through tactile models.

            This belief brings about the topic of pedagogical proposals that are centered on visual capabilities.  It is widely accepted that the sense of touch will substitute vision, in teaching the blind.   This idea brings about the obligation of “translating” the usual pedagogical resources into its touchable versions.  However, touch is not equivalent to vision, and the information that comes through the senses can not be seen as isolated from other processes involved in knowledge construction.  

3- The blind child must be provided with a large quantity of objects that will help him to construct concepts about things.

            Teachers think it should be used a profusion of objects, in real size or miniature, including, among others: daily life objects, miniatures of animals, furniture, vehicles.  There is a supposition that teaching will be more effective as the collection is more complete.  

            There is a great doubt and insecurity about things and situations that are not easily touchable, such as:

            - things that are not easily represented in a miniature (ex: a district of a town, some landscapes).

            - things that are inaccessible to touch (ex: soap-bubbles, clouds, rainbows, rays).

            - things that are dangerous to touch (ex: aggressive or poisonous animals, hot objects).

            - things for which there is an interdiction to touch (ex: certain parts of the body, certain animals such as a frog).

            What teachers are not taking into account, in regard to learning through copies and miniature objects is that these are always representations and their fidelity to reality is relative.  In fact, for the child to learn through these models, he/she must understand that the objects are schematic and simplified versions of real objects.  While models can be useful to convey some of the characteristics of objects, animals, plants, etc., they are, therefore, by no means indispensable and can be successfully substituted by other types of information.

            4- Visual representations must be converted in touchable ones to allow concept formation.

            The belief is that bi-dimensional representations (drawings, photos, schemes) in pedagogical materials should always be converted into corresponding tactile representations, and that this is essential for the learning process of the blind child.   Teachers show a great concern with the practical difficulties of this task. There is little discussion about the nature of representation, its use as a pedagogical resource and its role in the teaching and learning process.  

            The general recommendation for the elaboration of tactile representations is to reduce the details, in order to facilitate tactile recognition.  But the discussion about the meaning of graphic representation is ignored.  In this sense, it is important to remember that bi-dimensional representations are part of a cultural tradition, that involve conventions to indicate shapes, incidence of light, textures and relative distances.   There is no direct translation of those dimensions to tactile representation.  

            Bi-dimensional, visual representation constitutes an important pedagogical resource that allows for different ways of representing space, elaborated through time and history.  But every individual representation is based on the identification of relevant dimensions to be put in relief.  This is a challenge for the teacher of blind students: to identify what is the aim of each resource, and to find a way to convey this aim.      

            Theoretical issues raised by teachers’ conceptions about the education of blind children

            The results of our research show that the teachers within the group see concepts as mental representations or mental copies of real objects.  Also recognizable is the idea that emphasizes the linkage between the possibility of concept formation and the integrity of the sensorial channels.

            In his discussion on blindness, Vygotsky (1987b) considers that what matters is not the substitution of vision by touch, but the complete mobilization of the psychological processes, in constant interaction with the remaining senses.   The author reminds that both blind and sighted persons have in common the main source of development: language as a privileged means of semiotic mediation.  Therefore, touch has its meaning in knowledge acquisition, but not as a direct substitute for vision.

            The character of the senses involved in conducting information when sight is not available must be taken into consideration to analyze the modes of thinking of the visually impaired.  Hearing and touch are sequential senses that provide a particular kind of information.  The integration of information achieved through these senses is different of the integration process in the sighted.  While sight provides simultaneity and an immediate integrated picture of reality, hearing and speech provide pieces of information that are brought together one-after-the-other.  Time, therefore, is a crucial factor for blind or low-vision children when learning, reading and writing are considered.

            The results also raise the question of conceptions about concept formation.   Recent elaborations on this issue are based upon the critique of the classical view of concept formation.   According to Medin & Smith (1984), the classical view holds that all instances of a concept share common properties that are necessary and sufficient conditions for defining the concept.   One of the alternatives to this view is the theoretical model that treats concepts as suppositions about “how things are organized: how they are, how they function and how they relate to each other.   These suppositions are called theories or models” (Lomônaco et alii, 1996, p. 56).   According to Murphy & Medin (1985), the theoretical model “connotes a complex set of relations between concepts, usually with a causal basis” (p. 290), but not necessarily corresponding to scientific theories.   The model emphasizes that concepts should be seen as domains of knowledge.  Each concept is related to others, and each domain is organized by a theory (Lomônaco et alii., 1996).   Therefore, comprehension has much to do with relationships among the elements of a system, and not with the apprehension and exploration of isolated items.

            Another aspect of concept formation is approached by Kitcher (1990), who considers that concepts indicate some relationships between attributes, but not as proposed by the theory model.  Kitcher suggests that empirical concepts are always unfinished, in process of modification, better understood as partial relationships of dependency between genera and species, than by closed systems of definitions of necessary and sufficient conditions.

It is important to emphasize that modern conceptions related to concepts do privilege dynamic notions, suitable to capture a mutant and multiple reality.  These notions have important implications for the educational process. The first recalls that concepts are always related to other concepts, organized in systems that vary according to theories and specific goals.  The second, derived from Kitcher’s ideas (1990) proposes the characterization of empirical concepts as relationships between genera and species in an open way instead of the traditional definitions, closed by necessary and sufficient conditions.  Moreover, it suggests that the acquisition of concepts should be conceived as an experience that continues throughout the lifespan of the individuals and it should not be thought of as learning in the short term.

From the theoretical frame formulated by Vygotsky (1987a) a mediation-based conception of concepts acquisition can be also derived.  Especially when one considers language mediation, it is possible to conceive persons as active participants in the continuous process of concept-meaning appropriation.  Thus, new concepts formation is related to the already existing systems of concepts, to establishing relationships in meaningful contexts and to language, as mediator and organizer of the information coming from the senses.  From our point of view, the discussion of concept formation by the blind should be put in this broad context.  

            Conclusions and suggestions for educational settings including low vision and blind children

            Based on our experiences with groups of children, and according to the theoretical views that we assume, the following suggestions are presented.

1- Adapted materials allowing joint use for blind, low vision and sighted children provide the possibility of interactions that are similar to those observed in sighted children of the same age and level of development.

A range of games either commercial (especially designed or adapted) or constructed by the staff and students at the Centre, using materials with textures, relief and Braille (for the blind), bright colors, contrast and enlarged letterforms (for low-vision and sighted children) set the point of departure to create an inclusive environment.  Besides games and toys, learning materials follow the same principle, each child participating by means of the material that suits him/her best.  When playing “shopping groceries and fruits”, for instance, children use Braille, regular writing or a set of enlarged letters to write shopping lists and advertisement cards.  

2- It is important that the same material attend both the needs of the design of pictures and materials for blind and low vision children.

For low vision children, it is recommended the use of high contrast and amplification of pictures, written materials and board games.  For blind children, the tactile features can be attended with different tactile materials, and with the reduction of details of “standard” pictures.   They must be related to the child’s prior experiences in the recognition of tactile materials.  

            We seldom find in the literature and recommendations for adapting materials to low vision and blind children, directions for the adaptation of materials suiting simultaneously both groups.  However, when a real setting of inclusion is thought of, materials should be accessible to every child in the group, whatever special characteristics he/she might hold.   

            Among the recommendations related to materials for blind children it is commonly found the one that states the importance of offering information that can be apprehended through the remaining sensorial channels, usually privileging the sense of touch. There is not much doubt about the necessity of text transcription to Braille, a tactile representation of written language. For children in the early stages of literacy, still, we suggest the use of detachable letterforms, easily recognizable by who does not master the Braille system.

When it comes to figures and schemas, it is difficult in most cases to find an equivalent touchable model.  The representation of figures poses different kinds of problems that must be solved to attain efficient results.  An example of the practical problems on this matter is the decision on the minimal size of each element to be represented and recognizable by touch.  Theoretical problems point to the meaning of representation and to the difficulty involved in translating one type of representation into another.

            The recommendations for adapting materials to be used by children with low-vision, despite the wide differences between the characteristics of visual impairments, imply magnification and the use of high-contrast in all kinds of representations.  Besides that, since the interpretation of pictures depends on the familiarity with the symbolic system used to represent things, we highlight the importance of enhancing the children’s experience with bi-dimensional materials, pictures and different styles of representations of objects.  Especially when one considers the access of different groups of the population to the sign system and to bi-dimensional materials, this point should be taken into account, at least in developing countries like Brazil, where some social groups have not guaranteed access to these materials and forms of representation.  This situation leads, many times, to the confusion between visual difficulties and difficulty in the interpretation of materials whose meanings are linked to culturally established codes and conventions that rely on prior experience.  

3- The presentation of pictures has distinct objectives, when presented in formal teaching situation or in rule games.   In the case of formal teaching, we are in the domain of concept formation, focused on thought and language.  As previously argued, the information that is brought about by the senses has to be reorganized, mediated by language, in order to promote concept acquisition.  

More advanced concepts are derived from simpler ones, and this is the center of the task: to present new information that is linked to already existing concepts.   The adoption of sensorial information is just part of the task, so it must not be seen as the only topic of concern in the education of visually impaired students.  

            Masini (1994) criticized the “proposals, instruments and foundations for the work with visually impaired pupils, that are based exactly in what is not proper for them, that is, vision” (p. 75).  The author considers that the focus on the lack of vision shows the normative character of a society where the correct and natural is to be able to see.  She suggests, as a counterpart: “Why not asking about how is thinking for the person who does not see?”(p. 81).

            Taking this into consideration, one can think of the best ways of using models, schemas and figures as resources to the presentation and explanation of concepts.  With regard to drawings it is important to remember that they bear different styles and ways of representation that convey different world conceptions that are culturally codified.  These can not be fully translated to touchable figures, but to think of ways of representing different pictorial styles can become an interesting challenge to those working in the adaptation or elaboration of materials suited for the visually impaired.  Yet, it is important to remember that in teaching, many types of knowledge rely on the use of different kinds of representations such as maps, schemas and models and that even sighted children don’t have access to many objects of knowledge unless through representation and conceptualization (the cell, the solar system, etc.).

4- The presentation of pictures in rule games (ex: dominoes of animals, memory game with daily objects, and other board games) can be done in schematic ways, aiming the distinction between different elements.

There is no need to translate to tactile features “all” the characteristics of each picture of the games.  The objective, in this case, is to make distinctions that make the play situation feasible, and not to “teach” all the characteristics of each of the represented elements.  Among the examples, we can mention memory games, with schematic pictures of apples, cars, balls, etc., board games with schematic representations of targets such as cities, beaches, forests, etc.  

The suggestions above are based on theoretical elaborations that are opposed to traditional conceptions on the education of blind and low-vision children, centered on the provision of multiple tactile materials that would substitute vision.   The subjacent idea is that concepts are mental copies of real objects, emphasizing the link between the possibility of concept formation and the integrity of the sensorial channels.  In contrast, we assume in this paper that concept formation can be better described by the integration of elements in systems or theories, this being accomplished through the concourse of thought and language, with the contribution of the senses as providers of information that will be integrated in specific ways depending on the individual’s constitution.  Concept formation is seen, here, as an open process in constant modification.  The stress on the capability of language and thinking to operate as the main common tool between children with/without visual impairments collaborates to situate the discussion of the elaboration or adaptation of materials for these children in a new theoretical framework that has implications for the concrete work towards inclusion.

REFERENCES

BATISTA, C.G. & LAPLANE, A.L.F. (2004). An analysis of teachers ideas about concept formation and blindness: what to teach and why.   Abstracts of the 18th ISSBD (International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development) Meeting, P-537, p. 341.

CARVALHO, K.M.M., GASPARETTO, M. E. F., VENTURINI, N. H. B. &   KARA-JOSÉ, N.   (1992). Visão subnormal - Orientações ao professor do ensino regular. Campinas, S.P.: Editora Unicamp.

KITCHER, P. (1990). Kant’s transcendental psychology. New York, London: Oxford University Press.

LOMÔNACO, J.F.B., CAON, C.M., HEURI, A.L.P.V., SANTOS, D.M.M.S. & FRANCO, G.T. (1996). Do característico ao definidor: um estudo exploratório sobre o desenvolvimento de conceitos.   Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa,12 (1), 51-60.

MASINI, E.F.S. (1994). O perceber e o relacionar-se do deficiente visual .   Brasília: CORDE.

MEDIN, D.L. & SMITH, E.E. (1984).   Concepts and concept formation.   Annual Review of Psychology.   35, 113-138.

MURPHY, G.L. & MEDIN, D.L. (1985).   The role of theories in conceptual coherence.   Psychological Review, 92 (3), 289-316.

VYGOTSKY, L. S. (1987a) Problems of General Psychology. The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Rieber, R. W. & Carton, A. S. (Eds.). New York: Plenum Press. Vol. 1.

VYGOTSKY, L. S. (1987b) The Fundamentals of Defectology. The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Rieber, R. W. & Carton, A. S. (Eds.). New York: Plenum Press. Vol. 2.

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