The Use of Verbal Guidance and Manual Guidance Techniquesin the Teaching and Learning of Learners with Visual Impairment

Abstract

Throughout the course of recorded human history, the consequence of any form of disability always caused deep seated socialand emotional problems, among other challenges. In the education sector, for example, issues to do with disabilities have quite some negative impact, thereby affecting participation of learners who may have disabilities. Even in some schools today, seeing people with visual impairment (VI), still creates a feeling of deep discomfort, even in most teachers.One of the reasons attached being that most teachers see children with VI’s academic reality as beyond their capabilities. Due to loss of useful vision, a major tool needed for learning, most teachers have always perceived learners with VI as inadequate, especially when it comes to practical activities of the school curriculum. Because of their sight loss, those learners do not always receive the best from their teachers/instructor, because of inappropriate teaching methods employed by thoseteachers/instructors. There always appears to be some incongruence, and/or gaps between the expected and reality, when it comes to the involvement of these learners in practical subjects. Teachers are generally unaware of what teaching/learning methods influence instruction conceptualisation and skill acquisitionby these learners. While total participation of pupils with VI appears implicit in curriculum implementation, as mandated by some pieces of legislation, most teachers tend to be very selective and inconsistent, especially in the manner they teach some subjects like PE&S, ADLS and O&M.For one reason or the other, some teachers/instructors have been known side lining learners with VI in those curriculum subjects that are practical in nature. Conversely, there are also those teachers who involve such learners, in line with school inclusivity, but doing so using inappropriate teaching methods. With the proper teaching methods, like: Visual Guidance Techniques, Verbal Guidance Techniques, Manual Guidance Techniques and Mechanical Guidance Techniques, learners with disabilities have been known to function independently. Of the four guidance technique mentioned above, this paper shall examine the impact of the Verbal and Manual Guidance Techniques in the teaching and learning of learners with VI.