Changing Approaches in the Education of Visually Impaired High School Students

Abstract

This paper will focus on the teaching of visually impaired students and their preparation for intermediate- and advanced-level examinations. The teaching attitude needed to achieve this outcome, which contributes to young people finding their place in the world and discovering their intrinsic value. The theoretical introduction includes definitions of visual impairment and its degrees. Physical impairments are complemented by social integration issues, such as adjusting to a new environment. The main part presents 4 years of teaching experience from a teacher’s perspective in a natural environment, in an integrated high school classroom with sighted students. The teacher needs to be familiar with the initial period of acclimatization at the beginning of Year IX, as well as the myriad challenges of a stimulating environment, which span the whole period from getting to school to arriving on time for classes in different classrooms, through to the full duration of the education. The question is whether the teacher, upon entering the classroom for the first time, is aware of these circumstances. Should they be aware of this, or is it just a matter of delivering the lesson and holding them to account? What kind of teacher attitude is required for successful cooperation? The practical implementation of the topic should include the people and tools involved in the teaching, i.e., the teacher, the student, and the parent, and the advantages of using different literacy tools (NVDA, Jaws, Braille keyboard, etc.). This is necessary to make the lessons, especially the Hungarian lessons, successful. As teachers, we need to identify the qualities of visually impaired people that are not typical of sighted people, and how receptive they can be in an optimal educational environment. For example, they can read lyrical works through a reading program with an emphatic, expressive interpretation and recite the text aloud while hearing the following line read.