Education systems of blind children
Martyna Kosik
University of Warsaw (Poland)
Generally, we can distinguish two kinds of education of blind children, based on different theoretical assumptions: segregating system and integrating system.
SEGREGATING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Segregating system in case of blind children means two types of school: special school for blind students and special school for impaired students (also schools for blind mentally retarded students). Nowadays segregating educational system provides the best conditions for developing compensations and possibility of gaining adequate knowledge. It is thanks to proper preparation of teachers, implementing right methods, technical equipment, individual revalidation and many other factors which make easier the rehabilitation. But we also need to remember that it doesn’t completely fulfill the rule of rehabilitation of handicapped students which is to join these students to the rest of healthy children, to introduce them to society.
INTEGRATING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The integrating system of blind children focus on introducing these students to society. The preparation of blind students to normal social life can be done only by living in society, among healthy people, that is why the main rule of this system is to let handicapped students to learn in regular school. The most significant foundations on which this system is based on are:
- - despite of handicap of a child it is still a normal human being
- - a child with aberration from normality, despite of handicap, still has many mental, psychological and psychical abilities
- - the base of implementation of integrating system are common areas for handicapped and healthy students
- - any child shouldn’t learn in special school if its needs can be fulfill in normal school
The integrating system of special education is the most effective form of preparing students to live a normal life. The goal of this system is an individual treating of every child and provide it with conditions, where it could realize the curriculum.
Nowadays there is a tendency to enlarge the number of handicapped children in integrating educational system. And even though it has many good points, we also cannot forget about bad points.
The theoretical assumptions of this system is the most beneficial, but practice shows that you have not yet found adequate solutions to many problems that involve the introduction of integration in education. The most important are, among others:
- unsuitability of school curricula to the needs of the child
- inadequate supply of teaching aids
- too many classes
- lower expectations and greater laxity of teachers in terms of educational requirements
- insufficient preparation of school personnel
Most of these barriers seem to be possible to remove, but it certainly will not happen immediately, it requires a process of improvements, changes, often long term. It’s not even a matter of administrative allocation of mentally disabled child to a normal class (organizational integration), but to create favorable conditions for comprehensive, including social development.
Although the idea of everybody living together in harmony sounds wonderful, in my opinion it is, sadly, not possible. Blind and handicap children have different needs, and although they can be mentally healthy, they still are different from the rest of the children. I think that if blind children had separate education from the others it still doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be outsiders in society. They can have friends and can make friends outside of school too, especially at a young age.
Thanks Beata for your interesting comments! This is some additional information about this, concretely by the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education http://www.csie.org.uk/ in United Kingdom.
On the other hand this is my article in Investigalog:
“Inclusive education and attention to diversity”:
http://www.investigalog.com/humanidades_y_ciencias_sociales/educacion-inclusiva-y-atencion-a-la-diversidad/
All the best.
José Manuel Bautista.