Faculty of Education and Psychology PhD School of Education Learning-Teaching Programme
Summary of Ph.D. Dissertation
Mária Rita Hoffmann
Preparing Teachers for Inclusive Education – Relevance and Perspectives
of Cultural Disability Studies in Teacher Education
Supervisors:
Erzsébet Golnhofer Ph.D. habil.
György Könczei Ph.D., D.Sc., dr. Habil.
Budapest, 2017
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH TOPICS
Several narratives of blind and low vision students and several researchers (e.g. Réthyné, 2002; Tóvári- Prisztóka, 2015; Gombocz, 2011; Pető, 2011) prove that mainstreaming causes various types of difficulties for teachers and failure for students with disabilities. The phenomenon may be attributed to a number of different reasons, such as teachers’ little knowledge or lack of awareness concerning people with disabilities, contraversal beliefs, and perhaps negative attitude towards persons with disabilities. This dissertation focuses on the problem of blind and low vision students’
foreign language learning in mainstream educational settings, as knowing a foreign language, at least at an intermediate level, significantly promotes social inclusion.
The dissertation approaches beliefs concerning teaching foreign languages from a new point of view, it reflects on teachers’ attitudes towards blindness and reveals relevant information for teacher educators. In this context, inclusive teacher education means teachers’ knowledge and readiness to include students with various disabilities in mainstream educational settings. Exploring participants’ beliefs related to blindness and mainstreaming, the dissertation sheds light on numerous until now unknown factors. We are convinced that the results enable us to work out alternative programmes to promote inclusive teacher education.
1. RESEARCH PRINCIPLES 1.1. Starting points
On the basis of our students’, colleagues narratives and on our own lived experience we set up these four starting points:
1. Disability-related stereotypes and prejudices influence our beliefs.
2. Teachers play a significant role in rethinking stereotypes and prejudices.
3. Teacher education plays a significant role in training teachers who are able to rethink stereotypes and prejudices as well as gaining competencies which enable them to meet the expectations of everyday teaching practice in mainstream educational settings.
4. Disabled persons’ “special knowledge” (Marton
& Könczei, 2009) promotes rethinking stereotypes and prejudices.
The research is based upon the four principles above.
1.2. Research Aims
Our research aims are the followings:
- To explore blind and low vision secondary school and university students’ as well as their foreign language teachers’, lecturers’ beliefs related to blindness and mainstreaming.
- To investigate how and to what extent international and Hungarian literature refer to preparing teachers for mainstreaming, inclusion an socially just pedagogies in teacher education.
- To call the attention to a new aspect: the Role and significance of fultural understanding of disability.
- To emphasize the necessity of rethinking disability on the basis of blind and low vision secondary school and university students’ and their foreign language teachers’ and lecturers’
experiences.
- To prove the relevance of cultural disability studies in teacher education.
- To outline the perspectives of cultural disability studies in teacher education.
- To explore the challenges of language learning/teaching in mainstream educational settings from the respondents’ point of view.
- To emphasize the employability of qualified disabled educators and researchers in higher education.
- To promote emancipatory research paradigm, strategy and methodology.
1.3. Research Methods
This research rests upon a theoretical description based on a detailed literature review of the concepts applied.
The research is both descriptive and exploratory.
Descriptive, as it involves preliminary studies of the
research project, and provides background information related to the topic it investigates. Exploratory, owing to the fact that its aim is to gain relevant information on the research topic. Due to the complex nature of the research topic, qualitative and quantitative data collection and data processing methods are applied.
The reasearch does not intend to cover, neither does it aim at composing general
statements valid for a large population. For it examines mainstream education as a social phenomenon in the context of lived experiences (Falus, 2004). As to discover blindness- and mainstreaming-related beliefs and attitudes, we have edited questionnaires with closed and open-ended questions, and have applied semi-structured interviews. With regard to the fact that we intend to disclose deeply rooted beliefs and attitudes about blindness and mainstreaming, one part of the questionnaire involves metaphor analysis. “In some cases, it is scholarly justified to use metaphors when we have no other means” (Vámos, 2003, 109).
Our research, concerning its approach and method, is basically emancipatory. The principles of such research imply that the people who possess the “special knowledge” should conduct the research (Marton &
Könczei, 2009). This approach and attitude suggest that all research on persons with disabilities should contain disabled persons’ relevant and extra knowledge as they know best their lives, the hindering and promoting factors (Stalker, 1998).
1.4. Selecting research participants
Being a visually impaired language teacher and an insider researcher, our lived experiences strongly determined the research topic as well as the criteria of selecting the research participants. We applied the convenience/availability sampling method for blind and low vision full-time university students and their foreign language teachers and lecturers in Hungary in the academic year of 2015/2016. 16 students and 46 foreign language teachers and lecturers filled in the online questionnaires designed for the two target groups. 11 semi-structured interviews were also made with blind students, blind and sighted foreign language teachers, lecturers, itinerary teachers, ICT experts and with Eötvös Loránd University Disability Centre staff.
2. RESEARCH RESULTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STARTING POINTS AND AIMS
The results are summarised referring to the starting points and the research aims. The participants state that stereotypes and prejudices play a significant role in blind and low vision persons’ and their foreign language teachers’ and lecturers’ lives, strongly influence their communication and relations. Our culturally inherited beliefs are still dominant, the two groups’
communication is often characterised by fear, unawareness, little knowledge or even fear of each other.
Although positive tendencies can be detected, lack of information still makes mutual acceptance difficult for
both parties. The findings of the questionnaires and those of the semi-structured interviews directly and indirectly disclose the presence of stereotypes, and only one interview reveals prejudices.
The research examines the metaphors and similes related to blindness, blind persons, foreign language teachers (as blind persons’ possible profession) and knowing a foreign language through the lense of cultural disability studies. Sighted respondents’ metaphors and similes depict the concept of blindness fearful but blind people respectable, language teachers as helpers and guides, language knowledge as factors of social inclusion. Blind participants’ metaphors and similes convey the same meanings as those of the sighted respondents’ in terms of language teachers and knowing a foreign language, whereas, regarding the concept of blindness and blind people they are entirely different.
The findings of the questionnaires reveal that students’
and teachers’ beliefs on challenges, difficulties in foreign language teaching/learning are in accordance. Teachers state that teacher education did not prepare them to teach students with disabilities, consequently, teachers are unable to recognise invisible disabilities, they are unfamiliar with learning techniques most frequently used by blind students. Both the questionnaires and interviews prove that teachers regularly turn to their blind and low vision students for help as they are not equipped with the methodology for teaching visually impaired students, though, supportive material and methods are available on the Internet (Flamich, 2006).
Teachers’ methodological uncertainty may cause extra difficulty for the students concerned.
The questionnaires provide indirect information on the challenges and difficulties in learning a foreign language in the secondary school as university students recall their secondary school memories. The student narratives highlight that they find foreign language learning difficult for the following reasons: firstly, most of the course material is inaccessible, secondly, in secondary schools and universities teachers and lecturers hardly ever read aloud what they write on the board, thirdly, teachers and lecturers are, in most cases, unfamiliar with assistive technology devices blind students use, e.g.
screen reader softwaress. Fourthly, students consider the greatest challenge and difficulty if they must find solutions to do the exercises in the coursebooks. Though, this kind of teacher attitude may increase students’ self- estime, students often feel frustrated due to their teachers’ uncertainty, especially, when, as a consequence of the uncertainty, blind and low vision students are left out of a number of classroom activities. Lastly, owing to the facts mentioned above, it is difficult for the students to keep pace with their sighted peers. Although the research reveals several challenges and difficulties of everyday teaching practice in mainstream educational settings, further research is needed to facilitate teaching/learning foreign languages and any other school subjects.
Since there is a substantial body of literature on mainstream and inclusive education as well as on socially
just pedagogies, we had to narrow the scope of our interest, consequently, we focus on the education policies and directives of inclusive teachers’ competencies valid in the European Union, of which Hungary is a member state. The documents we consulted describe the basic skills (knowledge, attitude, beliefs, values) each teacher should possess regardless of the subjects and educational settings they teach in (Watkins, 2012).
Hungarian and international literature prove that scientific, reflective and critical voice of persons with disabilities can hardly be heard in teacher education or in the Hungarian academic circles. Disabled persons’
academic presence could, to a great extent, contribute to their educational and social inclusion. For persons with disabilities cultural disability studies is one of the possible ways to be present in the world of academy, therefore, the discipline plays a significant role in the research. The results reveal that the respondents find it necessary to introduce courses on cultural representations of disability in teacher education.
In the questionnaires and in the interviews teachers and students equally emphasize that preparing teachers for teaching visually impaired and other disabled students should be an integral part of teacher education. They would find it useful and stress-reducing to discuss the ways disability is present in a variety of fiction and drama. At the same time, there are respondents who express rather ambivalent feelings to analyze disabled persons’ autobiographies, i.e. disability memoir. The ambivalence may well be attributed to the unknown
genre of disability memoir, thogh, we have to note, the questionnaires do not ask whether the respondents are familiar with the genre.
Since the research discloses that the respondents intend to analyze and understand the role of disability representations in fiction, we introduce cultural disability studies as one possible and effective way of doing so.
The aim of the detailed description is to confirm the relevance of the discipline and imply its perspectives in inclusive teacher education. One of the several new fields of cultural disability studies is literary disability studies, the history of which we describe paying special attention to disability representations in fiction and disability memoir. We note that although literary disability studies is a discipline mostly renowned and applied in the English-speaking cultures, literary representations and disability memoir are present in the Hungarian culture for a long time, and special needs education considers them as valuable resources in educating special needs teachers.
As far as disability memoir is concerned, we examplify the significance of the genre with remarkable pieces of the international and Hungarian literature.
The findings of our mixed-method research reveal critical views on disabled persons’ „special knowledge”. The participants clearly indicate that solely disability-related special knowledge is not enough in educating inclusive teachers. Disabled and non-disabled teachers and researchers are expected to possess the same level of professional excellence and qualifications. As for expectations, social inclusion has been achieved. Positive
discrimination, which facilitates disabled students’
admission to higher education, may have a negative impact on education, therefore, it would be reasonable to launch compulsory courses in teacher education to enable teachers to teach students with various disabilities.
Results also reveal that when applying for a job disability must not be a reason of refusal. In case a disabled teacher is employed, that person should be in charge of preparing the staff to teach disabled persons.
One of our aims is to promote emancipatory research paradigm, strategy And methodology in the Hungarian academy. We intend to achieve this aim by carrying out the research on the basis of these principles. The research shows several emancipatory features. In the course of data collecting and processing we applied methods which are accessible for visually impaired persons, e.g. we did not apply content and text analysis softwares. The dissertation is fully accessible for visually impaired persons as it does not contain footnotes.
This approach may well be attributed to the insider researcher’s attitude, beliefs, knowledge and disposition, as a visually impaired language teacher, the researcher is convinced that understanding cultural representations of disability promotes inclusion, that is the reason why the focus of the dissertation is on cultural disability studies and its perspectives in teacher education.
3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
This research was born basically at the intersection of two disciplines, consequently, the recommendations we put forward may be valid for both or either field.
The results of our investigation of metaphors related to blindness and blind persons inspires us to propose investigations of disabled persons’ metaphors of their own disability. The results would greatly help teachers in teaching metaphors more consciously taking into consideration the stigmatizing power of metaphors and the feelings and sensitivity of the people concerned.
We also recommend to investigate the impacts and connections of disability-related metaphors on disability- related stereotypes and prejudices.
We are comvinced that recording and studying the history of literary representations of disability and disability memoir in the Hungarian literary history would prove valuable for not only literary historians, researchers of disability history and cultural disability studies, but also teachers and disabled persons. Such studies could significantly contribute to understanding disabled persons and their social inclusion.
As one of the aims of this research is to integrate cultural disability studies, i.e. literary representations of disability
and disability memoir in teacher education, in order to disclose the impacts, we recommend a follow-up research of the present one.
This research highlights that there are interrelations between school-subjects and the challenges of mainstreaming both in teachers’ and students’
performances. The nature of disability also seems a dominating factor. Consequently, school subject- and disability-related investigations are recommended to discover what challenges may be attributed to the given person’s disability. The information gained from such research may well enrich teachers’ practical knowledge of methodology.
Collecting, studying and sharing good practices would certainly facilitate mainstream education, and could prove significant resource in teacher training.
Finally, from the insider researcher’s point of view, to think over the role of special schools may be a notable factor to facilitate teachers’ and students’ work in mainstreaming, and promote social inclusion.
REFERENCES
FALUS Iván (2004): Bevezetés a pedagógiai kutatás módszereibe, Budapest, Műszaki Könyvkiadó Kft., 2004.
FLAMICH Mária (szerk.): Ajánlások vak és aliglátó gyermekek, tanulók kompetenciaalapú fejlesztéséhez:
Idegen nyelv, Budapest, SuliNova, 2006, forrás:
http://www.kooperativ.hu/idegen_nyelv/Ajanlasok/in- 09.pdf (Letöltés ideje: 2016. 04. 03., 11.15)
GOMBOCZ Orsolya: Inkluzív pedagógia a Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem Bölcsészet- és Társadalomtudományi Karán, Pedagógusképzés, 2011, 3–4 szám, 181–185.
MARTON Klára – KÖNCZEI György: Új kutatási irányzatok a fogyatékosságtudományban, Fogyatékosság és Társadalom, ELTE Bárczi Gusztáv Gyógypedagógiai Főiskolai Kar, ELTE Eötvös Kiadó, 2009, 1. 1. 5–12.
PETŐ Ildikó: Az inkluzív nevelés és a debreceni tanárképzés, Pedagógusképzés, 2011, 3–4. sz., 143–152.
RÉTHY Endréné (2002): A speciális szükségletű gyermekek nevelése, oktatása Európában. Az integráció és inklúzió elméleti és gyakorlati kérdései, Magyar Pedagógia, 2002, 3. sz., 281–300, forrás:
http://www.magyarpedagogia.hu/document/endrene_reth y-
the_education_of_children_with_special_needs_in_the_e u.pdf (Letöltés ideje: 2015. 04. 09., 20.15)
STALKER, K. (1998): Some ethical and methodological issues in research with people with learning difficulties, Disability & Society, 1998, 13 (1), 5–19.
TÓVÁRI Ferenc – PRISZTÓKA Gyöngyvér (2015):
Integrációs és adaptációs lehetőségek az iskolai testnevelésben, Pécs, Pécsi Tudományegyetem Természettudományi Kar Sporttudományi és Testnevelési Intézet, forrás: http://tamop- sport.ttk.pte.hu/files/tananyagfejlesztes/integracios-es- adaptacios-lehetosegek-az-iskolai-testnevelesben.pdf (Letöltés ideje: 2017. 05. 12., 16.24)
VÁMOS Ágnes: Metafora a pedagógiai kutatásban,
Iskolakultúra, 2003, forrás:
<http://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00011/00070/pdf/iskolakultura _EPA00011_2003_04_109-112.pdf> (Letöltés ideje:
2016. 05. 12., 07.43)
WATKINS, A. (ed.): Teacher Education for Inclusion;
Profile of Inclusive Teachers. European Agency in Special Needs Education, 2012, forrás:
https://www.unicef.org/albania/Profile-of-Inclusive- Teachers.pdf (Letöltés ideje: 2016. 02. 21., 19.40)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE RESEARCH TOPIC
FLAMICH Mária – HOFFMANN Rita: „Ízig-vérig része vagy a világnak”: A fogyatékossággal élő embert övező paradigmák rövid történeti áttekintése, in DÉRI Balázs – MENCZEL Gabriella – SZIJJ Ildikó (szerk.): Per multos annos: Faluba Kálmán tanár úr 70. születésnapjára, Budapest, L’Harmattan Kiadó, 2011, 120–131.
FLAMICH Mária – HOFFMANN Rita: A sztereotípiákon túl…: A kulturális fogyatékosságtudomány perspektívái a felsőoktatásban, in GOLUBEVA Irina (szerk.): A kulcskompetenciák fejlesztése a formális, a nem formális, valamint az informális tanulás során a társadalmi kohézió és esélyegyenlőség biztosítása érdekében, Veszprém, Tanárok Európai Egyesülete, 2014, 83–91.
FLAMICH, Mária – HOFFMANN, Rita: They lived happily(?) ever after: Disability in Fairy Tales in GRUIC, Tamara (szerk.): Competencies of preschool teachers for the knowledge society: International Scientific Conference, Nagykikinda, Szerbia, 2014, 238–243.
HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária: Magányos küzdelem:
akadálymentesítési lehetőségek a pedagógusképzésben, Pedagógusképzés, 2011, 3–4. sz., 225–233.
HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária: Inklúzió! Fogalom?
Szemlélet? Együtt nevelés és kontextusai, Új Pedagógiai Szemle, 2014, 11–12. sz., 26–46.
HOFFMANN Rita (2014): Randolph Bourne, a tudós, Fogyatékosság és Társadalom, 2014, 5–6. sz. 105–112.
HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária: (Dis)kurzus a sztereotípiákról, Pedagógusképzés, 2014–2015, 93–106.
HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária (2015): Meddig kísért még a múlt? A kulturális fogyatékosságtudomány szerepe, perspektívái a diverzitás megismerésében, elfogadásában és tiszteletében, in HERNÁDI Ilona – KÖNCZEI György (szerk.): A felelet kérdései között:
Fogyatékosságtudomány Magyarországon, Budapest, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Bárczi Gusztáv Gyógypedagógiai Kar, 48–67.
HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária (2016): Words for Dignity: From Budapest to Berkeley and back, in BOLT, David – PENKETH, Claire (szerk.): Disability Avoidance and the Academy: Challenging Resistance, London – New York, Routledge, 2016, 79–88.
KÖNCZEI György – HOFFMANN Rita – FLAMICH Mária:
Adalékok a fogyatékosságelutasítás történetéhez, in KÖNCZEI György – HERNÁDI Ilona (szerk.): Az esélyegyenlőségtől a Taigetoszig:
Fogyatékosságtudományi eredmények a „másik oldal”
megértéséhez, Budapest, L’Harmattan, 2016, 29–56.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
FLAMICH, Mária – HOFFMANN, Rita: Música i Discapacitat: Aspectes específics de la Música executada conjuntament per músics cecs i vidents, Valencia, Universitat de Valencia, 2011.
FLAMICH, Mária – HOFFMANN, Rita: Humanizing Stereotypes: Disabled Educators’ Role and Responsibility in (Teacher) Education, (Re)thinking Education International Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, University of Canterbury, 2013 (webprezentáció)
FLAMICH, Mária – HOFFMANN, Rita: Whose shame is it, anyway? – Contradictions of mainstreaming,
The Inclusive Education Summit, Christchurch, New Zealand, University of Canterbury, 2016 (webprezentáció)
HOFFMANN, Rita: Teaching Diversity Through English as a Foreign Language, American Hungarian Educators Association 40th Annual Conference, Babes-Bolyai Tudományegyetem, 2015.
HOFFMANN, Rita – FLAMICH, Mária: Miser/Abling Images – A case to study, American Comparative Literature Association 2016 Annual Meeting, USA, Harvard University, 2016.
