Shining a light on disparities to access. Specialist teachers’ perceptions on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on learning for students with blindness and low vision in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific

Abstract

ABSTRACT COVID-19 restrictions have had significant impacts on teaching and learning globally. A growing body of literature has been published on the experiences of students and teachers as they negotiated school closures and social restrictions. Much less has been published about the experiences of students with disability, and very little about students with blindness and low vision (BLV). The impact of BLV on learning is significant due to the visual nature of the curriculum. To address the dearth of research on how COVID-19 restrictions impacted educational access and participation for students with BLV, the authors, supported by a research grant through the South Pacific Educators of Vision Impairment (SPEVI), surveyed and interviewed Specialist Teachers of students with BLV in Australia, New Zealand, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific region, that is, the region that encompasses SPEVI’s work. The results bring teachers’ voices into the collation of strategies to inform future educational responses. These are presented as a series of six key catalysts or drivers for change over four stages of action; moving through times of crisis that necessitate remote teaching and learning or other fundamental shifts in practice due to crisis-driven changes.