Enablers and barriers to equitable participation for students with blindness or low vision in Australian mainstream secondary schools
Journal article
Fanshawe, Melissa, Barton, Georgina, Mandarakas, Monique, Cain, Melissa and Todd, Nicole. (2023). Enablers and barriers to equitable participation for students with blindness or low vision in Australian mainstream secondary schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education. pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2265915
Authors | Fanshawe, Melissa, Barton, Georgina, Mandarakas, Monique, Cain, Melissa and Todd, Nicole |
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Abstract | A global commitment to inclusive education through policies and legislation has been espoused to provide equitable access to the curriculum for students with disability. Recent evidence suggests, however, that for students with blindness or low vision (BLV), the visual nature of the curriculum means that content can be inaccessible. This study explored the barriers and enablers that students with BLV encounter when engaging with the curriculum. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with six students with BLV in Australian mainstream secondary schools. The interviews were analysed to determine the factors that influenced equitable access and participation. The analysis uncovered a number of themes, including access to curriculum materials, support from classroom teachers, support from specialist educators and familiarity with, and use of assistive technologies. The results of this study demonstrated that more professional development is needed for teachers and other stakeholders to prepare students with BLV to participate in learning ‘on the same basis’ as their peers without disability. |
Keywords | Blindness; low vision; inclusive education practices; enablers and inhibitors; learning and teaching |
Year | 01 Jan 2023 |
Journal | International Journal of Inclusive Education |
Journal citation | pp. 1-17 |
Publisher | Routledge |
ISSN | 1360-3116 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2265915 |
Web address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603116.2023.2265915 |
Open access | Open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 1-17 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 09 Oct 2023 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 27 Sep 2023 |
Deposited | 11 Jul 2024 |
Additional information | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group |
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. | |
Place of publication | United Kingdom |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/90qvq/enablers-and-barriers-to-equitable-participation-for-students-with-blindness-or-low-vision-in-australian-mainstream-secondary-schools
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Publisher's version
OA_Cain_2023_Enablers_and_barriers_to_equitable_participation.pdf | |
License: CC BY 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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