OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MATHEMATICS: THE CASE OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ZIMBABWE by LOUISE STANLEY MADUNGWE Submitted in accordance with the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the subject CURRICULUM STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR M. G. NGOEPE APRIL 2018 DECLARATION I, Louise Stanley Madungwe, declare that the research report submitted in fulfilment of my Doctor’s Degree in Curriculum Studies is my own work, and that it has never been produced before any other institution. All the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Signature LOUISE STANLEY MADUNGWE FEBRUARY 2018 ii ABSTRACT The study examined the opportunities to learn Mathematics that are accorded to secondary school students with visual impairment in Zimbabwe. The study focused on form one and form two students who are completely without sight, but are learning in inclusive settings, together with their Mathematics teachers. The study examined how teachers interacted with the subject matter, how the teachers interacted with the visually impaired students and how these students interacted with partially sighted students in the teaching and learning process. The study adopted the case study approach under the qualitative inquiry. Data was collected using document analysis, lesson observations, personal interviews with teachers and focus group interviews with students who were purposive sampled. The study established that visually impaired students were not accorded adequate opportunities to learn mathematics at secondary level. The reasons for this deficit are (1) visually impaired students learnt the same curriculum as sighted students when they could not access some topics on the syllabus, (2) the teachers were professionally qualified but they lacked the necessary specialist training for teaching students without sight, (3) teachers used the same teaching methods as those used with sighted students, (4) a lot of time was spent on task though not much ground was covered, (5) the schools were not adequately resourced with appropriate teaching and learning materials for use by visually impaired students, culminating in lost opportunities to learn mathematics. The study recommends that appropriately qualified teachers be deployed to teach at schools for the visually impaired, that all secondary teachers learn the basic modules in Special Needs Education during training. The study also recommends for the government to assist the schools for the visually impaired students to import the much needed teaching and learning equipment. The study has provided some knowledge about the learning of mathematics by visually impaired students in Zimbabwe in the areas of lesson delivery, materials provision, and programme adjustments at secondary teacher training colleges and universities. It has also provided curriculum planners with an insight on the prevailing situation with regard to the teaching and learning of mathematics by visually impaired students. This knowledge could be used when formulating future mathematics curriculum and training policies to do with non- sighted students in Zimbabwe and other countries in Africa. KEY WORDS Visually impaired, opportunity to learn, Braille, secondary school students, mathematics, resource teacher, itinerant teacher, special needs education DEDICATION iii I dedicate this thesis to my late mother and my two children. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv First, I am grateful to the Lord Almighty for giving me the strength, courage, wisdom and determination to complete this project. With God, nothing is impossible. I also want to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor, PROFESSOR M.G. NGOEPE for her guidance, support and constructive feedback. Your invaluable advice and patience gave me the zeal to soldier on even when the going became tough, until completion of the project. My sincere gratitude goes to my friend and mentor, DOCTOR GAMUCHIRAI TSITSI NDAMBA, for her unwavering support, encouragement and guidance throughout the course of the study, and for proofreading my chapters. I want to recognise PROFESSOR JAIROS GONYE for taking care of the language aspect of my thesis. I also want to thank my children, Ngonidzashe Benson and Lisa Nyasha, for their encouragement, tolerance and moral support though they were far away. Lastly my thanks also go to the participants of this study, I say thank you and God bless you all. The time that you sacrificed to attend to me will not go to waste. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CSBE California State Board of Education v ECD Early Childhood Development GZU Great Zimbabwe University HI Hearing impaired ICEVI International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Act MoPSE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education NCLB No Child Left Behind NCTM National Council of teachers of Mathematics NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OTL Opportunity to Learn PED Provincial Education Director UN United Nations US United States USAID United States Aid VI Visually Impaired or Visual Impairment ZAVH Zimbabwe Association for the Visually Handicapped ZIMSEC Zimbabwe School Examinations Council LIST OF TABLES TABLE I: School A Enrolment 85 TABLE 2: School B Enrolment 85 vi TABLE 3: Study Sample: Student details 86 TABLE 4: Details of Teachers 87 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING...................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 MOTIVATION ................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ................................................................................ 7 1.4 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ...................................................................................... 15 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................ 19 1.6 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .............................................................. 20 vii 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................... 20 1.8 DELIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................... 22 1.9 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ................................................................................. 23 1.10 FEASIBILITY OF THE STUDY ................................................................................ 24 1.11 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY .......................................................................... 24 1.12 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 25 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 26 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 26 2.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 26 2.2 THE CONCEPT OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT ............................................................. 27 2.3 OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN (OTL) ............................................................................ 29 2.3.1 The concept of OTL ................................................................................................ 29 2.3.3 Other Studies on OTL .............................................................................................. 37 2.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................. 39 2.5 EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT ............................. 45 2.5.1 Educational provisions ............................................................................................ 45 2.5.2 Special adaptations for visually impaired students .................................................. 50 2.5.3 Adapted Educational materials and equipment ....................................................... 55 2.5.4 Teaching strategies and adaptations ........................................................................ 58 2.6 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................