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Although the following article was written with K-12 teaching in mind, with a special focus on lower grades, the fundamental concepts are also applicable for more advanced instruction; some of the specifics may vary, however.
Carla Hayes
Although we might prefer to ignore it, those of us who are
blind or visually impaired have an elephant in the middle of the room
which we must deal with every day: our visual impairment.
Along with the typical issues which all teachers have to deal
with as part of their work, such as discipline, motivating
students, planning meaningful lessons, and grading
students' work, we must develop strategies for performing
tasks which normally require sight, answer questions about
our blindness, and constantly prove ourselves to our sighted
students and colleagues. All of this we are expected to do
without complaining or missing a beat. Do you sometimes
find this daunting and discouraging? If so, this article contains some thoughts and suggestions for how to deal with your
blindness as a teacher.
Being a successful blind teacher starts when you are
preparing to become a teacher. In addition to acquiring a
thorough mastery of the subject matter that you will be
teaching, you will need to master basic competencies and
life skills which will enable you to function independently as a
blind person in all aspects of your life. First, you must be
able to communicate effectively with others both orally and in
writing and with yourself in braille or large print. Second, you
must be able to use a computer and master the appropriate
adaptive technology which will enable you to use it
independently. Third, you must develop the necessary
independent living skills which will allow you to take care of
your own personal needs and even live alone in an
unfamiliar place if necessary. Fourth, whether you use a
cane or a dog guide, you must acquire effective mobility
skills so that you can travel safely and independently in both
familiar and unfamiliar places. Fifth, you must become
comfortable with your visual impairment and develop a
positive attitude about it. This will make it much easier for
you to answer the constant personal questions about your
blindness which will come your way, explain your blindness
to your students, and ask for the reasonable
accommodations that you will need from time to time.
Finally, you will need to have excellent interpersonal skills in
order to relate to students, parents, colleagues,
administrators, and support staff in a positive manner. The
more people you can get on your side, the more successful
you will be as a teacher, whether you
are sighted or blind.
The blindness issue will resurface when you are
preparing for job interviews. One of the most important
decisions you will have to make is whether or not to disclose
your visual impairment on your resume and/or job
applications. There are compelling arguments both ways.
After trying both disclosing and not disclosing in advance, I
have found that it is usually best to make a short but positive
statement about my blindness in the cover letter which
accompanies my resume and application. My statement is
as follows:
"Although I have been blind since birth, I have
developed several strategies for performing my work
independently. I also feel that my blindness has made me a
better teacher because it has given me a firsthand
knowledge of the challenges faced by students with learning
disabilities and other special needs and a special empathy
for these students."
I have found that most interviewers do
not like surprises; so, it is usually best for them to be
informed of my disability in advance. When using this
strategy, I'm generally not called in for as many interviews,
but the interviews that I do have are more worthwhile.
When
you are interviewed, be prepared to answer questions about
your blindness, how it will affect your job performance, and
how you will handle certain tasks such as classroom
management, discipline and paperwork without sight. It is
also a good idea to take a portfolio to the interview
containing a typical unit that you might teach, complete with
lesson plans, visuals, worksheets, tests and other supporting
materials. This may help impress the interviewer with your experience and preparation.
In short, when
you are interviewed, it is your job to take the focus
off your blindness and demonstrate that you are a capable
teacher and the best candidate for the position, despite your
visual impairment.
Once you are hired as a teacher, you will have to
develop effective strategies for dealing with your visual
impairment on the job. Hopefully, you have already devised
methods to perform classroom tasks which typically require
sight, such as alternatives to writing on the board if you
cannot see well enough to do so, managing a classroom full
of active, energetic students, preventing and dealing with
discipline problems, recording grades, and taking care of the
reams of paperwork that will come across your desk. You
must be able to recognize those tasks for which you will
require sighted help and develop a strong network of sighted
helpers. Some of these may include a classroom aide or at
least someone who can be available to monitor tests and
two or three reliable readers. Be kind to administrators, the
school librarian and technology specialist, secretaries and
janitors because they can give you a lot of support, but be
careful not to rely on them too much or make unreasonable
requests.
It is usually best not to ask colleagues to help you
with your work unless you are willing and able to do
something for them in exchange. If you ask for their help too
often, they may stop viewing you as an equal.
As a member
of the faculty, you will doubtless be required to perform some
non-teaching duties in addition to teaching your classes.
Some of these tasks do require sight and would be difficult if
not impossible for you to perform. Never use your blindness
as an excuse to try to get out of these duties. Instead, trade
them for tasks that you can perform. For example, you may
not be able to perform bus or cafeteria duty, but there is no
reason that you cannot supervise an extra study hall, be a
student advisor, or take charge of a school club. In short,
you must pull your own weight as a member of the school
staff; if you don't, this will be unfair to your colleagues.
You
must also be positive and realistic with your students in
regards to your visual impairment. Start on the first day of
school by explaining your level of vision to them in a
simple, honest and straightforward manner. Then, explain
how you will perform various classroom tasks and answer
any questions that they may have. Encourage them to ask
questions about your blindness at any time and always be
positive and honest when answering.
There
is no reason why you can't occasionally allow students to
help with certain classroom tasks, such as passing out
papers, identifying printed materials, writing on the board
and decorating the bulletin boards. Helping the teacher can
be a positive experience for students. However, do not
overdo it and ask for their help too often. If you do, students
may begin to believe that you are not competent enough to
perform your job independently. Remember that you may be
the first and only blind person that your students will meet;
do everything that you can to make this experience a
positive one.
In short, whether dealing with students or staff,
you must be positive and realistic about your disability. Learn
to be comfortable about discussing it and asking for the
accommodations that you will need. On the other hand, work
to develop alternative strategies for performing as many job-
related tasks as possible without sight or assistance from
others. You must be as independent as possible if you want
to be respected and taken seriously.
In conclusion, it is true that being blind or visually
impaired will make your work as a teacher more difficult and
challenging than it is for your sighted colleagues. However,
with dedication and imagination, you will conquer that
proverbial elephant and become a
confident and competent teacher that your students and
colleagues will never forget.
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