Exploring experiences of visually impaired students on support services in Higher Education Institutions in Lesotho
Loading...
Date
2023
Authors
Kojana, Retselisitsoe Kitima
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ: Higher education institutions (HEIs) are regarded as the apex of the education system in many countries of the world. These institutions play a leading role in providing qualifications for their students, intellectual and physical skills necessary for innovation, creativity, self-reliance, and to survive societal and economic demands. Inclusion and admission of persons with disabilities has increased diversity in the student population. The admission of persons with disabilities brings with itself a package of factors and demands among the visually impaired students (VIS) who encountered multi-faced experiences. This study aimed to explore the daily experiences of VISs towards various available student support services in two Lesotho higher education institutions to address a significant gap in the existing literature. In the context of Lesotho, much literature has been published on disability issues specifically on visual impairment in educational institutions. However, limited studies and research addressed the support services provided to students. Appreciative inquiry, as a theoretical framework and a human rights-based approach as a conceptual framework were triangulated to establish how VISs are embraced, celebrated and appreciated by support services in their respective institutions. The human rights-based approach was used to uphold the support offered to VISS as education rights holders in higher education institutions.
๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ: The philosophical underpinning of this study was the Interpretivism paradigm that enabled the researcher to make reflections on beliefs, views and principles about the world that one lives in. The study was guided by the phenomenological research design to understand the participantsโ perceptions, experiences and perspectives towards support services. Nine (9) VISs and thirteen (13) student support services officials in two higher education institutions participated in this study. In-depth interviews, narrative interviews and an observation adopting complete observer were used as data collection tools. The Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse qualitative data which is flexible and participant-oriented to acquire the real-life experiences of visually impaired students. The IPA allowed the interpretation of single units to reflect the general patterns across units.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐: several findings relating to the experiences of VISs towards support services were made. Higher education institutions have academic and non-academic support services for student in their academic journey. The findings are that disability the units are the most favoured and used support services by VISs in the institutions. The library, health centre, computer lab, counselling and guidance services are the least used support services. Student affairs, student welfare and special education services are partially used by visually impaired students. There are no guiding principles, models or policies guiding and governing disability issues in both institutions. Further findings are that lack of expertise, assistive devices or lack of learning material in the library not only compromise the learning by VISs but they also influence negative perceptions towards the use of these services. Disability units must be equipped with more assistive devices such as desktops with JAWS, screen readers and magnifiers. The relationship and attitude of non-visually impaired students, lecturers and support staff differs from one visually impaired student to the next. The study finds that VISs encounter several challenges in their residences including theft of properties, poor living conditions, and poor security.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: The study concludes that the journey and experiences of each student are dynamic. Each student has his or her highs and lows towards different support services that may compromise or enhance one's academic success. To safeguard the academic and social well-being and success of visually impaired students, it is important for institutions to consider developing disability policies that will guide disability issues. This will protect their rights to receiving quality education, eradicating learning and teaching barriers that hinder their academic success. Development of a disability policy and guidelines will be a token of appreciating and embracing diversity in higher education institutions.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.(Psychology of Education))--University of the Free State, 2023
Keywords
Visual impairment, visually impaired students, higher education institutions, support services, student experiences