Inclusive educational practices in Uganda: evidencing practice of itinerant teachers who work with children with visual impairment in local mainstream schools

Lynch, P., McCall, S., Douglas, G., McLinden, M. and Bayo, A. (2011) Inclusive educational practices in Uganda: evidencing practice of itinerant teachers who work with children with visual impairment in local mainstream schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(10), pp. 1119-1134. (doi: 10.1080/13603116.2011.555070)

Abstract

This article reports on a research project investigating the role of itinerant teachers (ITs) of children with visual impairment in Uganda. The research focused on the activities of 52 ITs who recorded their work in a journal over a period of eight weeks (a new practice which was introduced to them through a workshop). Analysis of the data collected demonstrated that ITs were not able to visit all the children on their caseload as often as they had planned at the beginning of the project. Partly this was linked to a high proportion of their work being ‘community-focused’ (e.g. identifying new cases and advising the wider community about the implications of visual impairment) rather than ‘child-focused’ (linked to their caseload). In addition, they experienced other challenges, for example time-consuming travel and obtaining permission to be released from their regular teaching commitments. Whilst ITs found record keeping difficult, they felt it was a useful administrative procedure for managing caseloads and recognised the value of using the journals beyond the project. The policy and practice implications of the research for supporting children with special educational needs based around specialist teachers are considered.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lynch, Dr Paul
• Authors: Lynch, P., McCall, S., Douglas, G., McLinden, M., and Bayo, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Culture, Literacies, Inclusion & Pedagogy
• Journal Name: International Journal of Inclusive Education
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1360-3116
• ISSN (Online): 1464-5173
• Published Online: 27 June 2011