Professional Preparation of Teachers of Students With Visual Impairments and Orientation and Mobility Specialists Regarding Physical Activity,Physical Education,and Sport

Abstract

Introduction: This aim of this online study was to determine what teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) and orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists learned and experienced in their professional preparation programs regarding physical education, physical activity, and sport for students with visual impairments. Methods: In 2019, an initial questionnaire was sent to specialists in the field for validation. In 2020, 68 TVIs and O&M specialists participated in an online research study consisting of validated multiple choice, Likert scales, and short responses. This study was created through and accessed by participants on the website of Qualtrics, a survey tool. Results: Sixty percent of the participants did not feel that their professional preparation program provided an adequate amount of time discussing accommodations for students with visual impairments in physical education and physical activity. Eighty percent of participants learned very little or nothing at all in their courses related to physical activity, physical education, and sport; and 79% learned very little or nothing at all in their practicum experiences. Seventy-two percent of participants indicated that they wished that they had learned more about physical activity, physical education, and sport. Discussion: The findings demonstrate that TVIs and O&M specialists are not prepared to assist physical education teachers in making physical activity, physical education, and sport accessible to students with visual impairments. Implications for Practitioners: The professional preparation programs of TVIs and O&M specialists can include more information on making physical activity, physical education, and sport accessible to students with visual impairments.

Keywords

adapted physical education visual impairment blindness accessible sport

Students with visual impairments often lack inclusion in physical education classes (Haegele & Zhu, 2017; Haegele, Hodge, et al., 2020; Haegele et al., 2020). This lack of participation is problematic, since children with visual impairments on average perform fewer bouts of physical activity per day (Augestad and Jiang, 2015; Haegele, Brian, & Goodway, 2015) and perform with lower levels of motor competence than their peers without disabilities (Brian, Pennell, Haibach-Beach, Foley, Taunton, & Lieberman, 2019; Haibach, Wagner, & Lieberman, 2014). All school-aged children, including those with visual impairments, need 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2019). Children need developmentally appropriate physical activity to develop fundamental motor skills (Brian et al., 2019; Goodway and Branta, 2003). Development of motor skill competence promotes engagement in lifelong physical activity (Stodden, Goodway, Langendorfer, Rudisill, Garcia, & Garcia, 2008). In this way, children with visual impairments need developmentally appropriate adapted physical education, physical activity, and sport experiences to become physically active for life (Brian, Bostick, Starrett, Klavina, Taunton Miedema, Pennell, Pennell, Stribing, & Gilbert, 2020). Without inclusion in physical education, students with visual impairments miss out on these benefits (Haegele & Zhu, 2017). When looking at the barriers for inclusion of students with visual impairments in physical education, there are several that are prevalent including professional preparation, equipment, programming, and time. Of these, the greatest perceived barrier was found to be professional preparation (Lieberman, et al., 2002).

Physical education teachers often feel they were not prepared to teach children with visual impairments (Conroy, 2012; Lirgg, et al., 2017). Similarly, physical education teachers consider students with visual impairments to be one of the hardest populations to instruct (Conroy, 2012; Lirgg, et al., 2017; Lieberman, et al., 2002). Due to this fact, individuals with visual impairments have had negative experiences in which they were unable to participate in physical education classes because their physical education teachers believed the activity was unsafe and that they might get hurt (Haegele, Zhu, et al., 2019; Haegele & Kirk, 2018; Haegele & Zhu 2017). The lack of professional preparation is no surprise, since physical education teachers are typically only required to take one course in adapted physical education (Piletic & Davis, 2010; Kwon, 2018). On average, the required adapted physical education course spends less than two hours on how to teach children with visual impairments (Lieberman, et al., 2019). This amount of time is not nearly enough for scholars to understand the instructional strategies and modifications that are necessary to educate students with this complex physical disability.

To increase success in general education classes, students with visual impairments are typically assigned a teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI). By providing students with visual impairments with developmentally appropriate modifications and assistive technology, TVIs make education accessible for their students (Ajuwon, Meeks, Griffin-Shirley, & Okungu, et al., 2016). TVIs are trained in areas including assistive technology, the expanded core curriculum, individualized education programs (IEPs), instructional strategies, and modifications that allow students access to the general education curriculum (Willings, 2015). Within independent living skills, TVIs are trained to educate students on recreation activities, which may include physical activity and sport outside of school (Lieberman and Conroy, 2013). The following standards in TVI training that come closest to physical education have been outlined by the Council for Exceptional Children (2020):

• identify and adapt general education and visual impairment—specific curricula for instruction of literacy, other academic areas, and the expanded core curriculum; promote and reinforce sensorimotor and physical skills, including gross and fine motor skills, posture, balance, purposeful movement, and strength to meet individual needs unique to visual impairment;

• teach basic orientation, body image, spatial, temporal, positional, directional, and environmental concepts based on individual needs to promote motor skill development, orientation and mobility, and academic and social inclusion; and

• play a role in determining and recommending appropriate type and amount of services based on evaluation of needs in all areas of the expanded core curriculum.

Although TVIs play a role in determining what services are necessary to meet the educational needs of students with visual impairments, they are not required to provide specific instruction in physical education concepts. Yet, as discussed earlier, this information is essential in helping the physical educators develop and obtain the necessary tools to support their students with visual impairments. There are some standards of the professional preparation of TVIs and orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists that touch on motor skills, strength, movement, and balance. It is important to remember that the psychomotor domain—including those physical skills—is as important as the affective and cognitive domains in the development of all children.

Another professional field working to increase the success of students with visual impairments is O&M. O&M specialists teach individuals with visual impairments to use their senses to determine their positioning in and to move safely through the environment. The largest organization that certifies O&M specialists, the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP), requires them to be well versed in the visual system, learning theories, body and spatial awareness, mobility skills, and other related areas (ACVREP, 2020). However, these professionals may or may not be trained to assist the physical education teacher in adapting their physical activity and sport curriculum to accommodate a student with a visual impairment (Willings, 2015). This very question leads us to the purpose of this study, which was to determine what information was included in the professional preparation program of TVIs and O&M specialists regarding physical education, physical activity, and sport.

To determine what was taught regarding physical activity, physical education, and sport in the professional preparation of these professionals, two research questions were formed:

1. What are the experiences in professional preparation of TVIs and O&M specialists related to accessibility of physical education, physical activity, and sports?

2. What additional components are necessary in professional preparation programs to improve these future teachers’ ability to increase inclusion of students with visual impairments in physical education, physical activity, and sports?

Methods

Participants

This online study consisted of 68 adult participants (mean age 46.2 years, SD = 10.7 years; 48 females, 7 males, 13 preferred not to respond). To fill out the questionnaire, participants were required to be a TVI or O&M Specialist who worked with students in schools. TVIs made up 27 of the participants, 13 participants worked as O&M specialists, 15 held both titles, and 13 did not to respond to this question.

Participants included 59 itinerant teachers, five in residential schools, and four in other settings. These participants resided in 14 different U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Participants attended graduate-level professional preparation programs at 36 universities in 17 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The participants from the United States attended professional preparation programs in all regions of the country including 29 from the Northeast, 7 from the Southeast, four from the Southwest, 7 from the Midwest, six from the West, and 15 did not respond to this question.

Protocol

The institutional review board provided permission to conduct this study at the researchers’ home institution. The lead researchers developed questions to answer the two research questions. The initial questionnaire was sent to specialists, including two professors of adapted physical education, one professor of motor behavior, two TVIs, two O&M specialists, and two university students with visual impairments. These specialists provided feedback on the wording, order, and content of the questions. Revisions were made to the questionnaire until all specialists agreed upon the final questionnaire and that the questionnaire was well designed to answer the two research questions.

The final questionnaire was created using the Qualtrics web-based survey tool and included questions pertaining to participants’ knowledge of instruction; accommodations; and modifications for physical education, physical activity, and sport that they had learned from their professional preparation programs. The questionnaire consisted of a demographic section, eight multiple-choice questions, two Likert -scale questions with 11 options, five open-ended questions, and a demographics section. Participants were recruited through vision-related electronic discussion groups, conferences, personal contacts, and snowball sampling. Participants voluntarily filled out the questionnaire and submitted it online through the Qualtrics website.

Results

The data collected indicated that 68% of the participants’ students with visual impairments attended general physical education alongside their same-aged peers. Of these participants, 89% reported that there were barriers for students with visual impairments to receive adequate instruction in general physical education. The results of this study also indicated that 80% of the participants felt that students with visual impairments should attend general physical education classes alongside their peers (refer to Table 1). When asked to respond to the statement, “My students’ physical education teachers are mostly knowledgeable on how to provide meaningful instruction to students with visual impairments,” 45% of the participants disagreed (refer to Table 1). As presented in Table 2, 60% of the participants disagreed with the statement “My professional preparation program spent adequate time on discussing accessibility and accommodations to support my students in physical education.”

Table 1.

Level of agreement to statements regarding physical education for students with visual impairments.

Statement	Frequency of level of agreement
Statement	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree	No response
Physical education is as important as the core curriculum classes for students with visual impairments	49	8	1	0	0	10
I believe students with visual impairments should attend general physical education class alongside their peers	38	17	3	0	0	10
I believe my students generally have positive feelings about physical education	9	27	13	8	1	10
My students’ physical education teachers are mostly knowledgeable on how to provide meaningful instruction to students with visual impairments	7	13	7	20	11	10
The physical education teachers often come to me for advice on how to provide meaningful instruction for my students alongside their same aged peers	7	13	7	20	11	11

Table 2.

Level of agreement to statements regarding professional preparation in reference to physical education for students with visual impairments.

Statement	Frequency of level of agreement
Statement	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Strongly disagree	Disagree	No response
My professional preparation program spent adequate time on discussing accessibility and accommodations to support my students in physical education	3	9	5	20	21	10
My professional preparation left me feeling confident in how to increase accessibility of physical education content for my students	2	12	6	20	18	10
My professional preparation program spent adequate time on the use of accessible assistive technologies utilized in physical education	2	6	8	23	19	10
My professional preparation improved my knowledge of accessible assistive technologies available for physical education	4	5	7	20	19	10
My professional preparation adequately informed me of the specific equipment resources available for use in physical education	6	4	10	27	10	10
My professional preparation left me feeling confident in the different instructional strategies used for students with visual impairments in physical education	3	10	7	21	17	10

The data further revealed that for both assistive technologies and instructional strategies, the average number of participants who had heard of each support was higher than the average number of participants who were comfortable using the support (see Table 3 and Table 4).

Table 3.

Knowledge and comfort with of assistive technologies for. Physical education for students with visual impairments.

Assistive technology	Response
Assistive technology	Has heard of (% of total participants)	Comfortable using (% of total participants)
Beep baseball	79	52
Tether	73	50
Tandem bike	78	43
Swim tapper	29	13
Audible hockey puck	28	10
Beep kickball	69	41
30 love tennis	42	16
Jump rope to fitness	59	30
Rib-it-balls	59	0
Walk/run for fitness kit	52	0
Portable sound source	72	59
Sound ball	71	68
Guide wire	65	33

Note. Eleven participants did not respond to this question.

Table 4.

Knowledge and comfort with instructional strategies for physical education for students with visual impairments.

Instructional strategies	Response
Instructional strategies	Has heard of (% of total participants)	Comfortable using (% of total participants)
Tactile modeling	67	65
Physical guidance	71	63
Coactive movement	29	25
Pre-teaching	69	66
Visual aids	72	69

Note. Fourteen participants did not respond to this question.

In completing an analysis on the data collected from open-ended questions, it was revealed that 80% of participants learned little or nothing related to physical activity, physical education, and sport in their professional preparation courses (Table 5); 79% of participants learned little or nothing at all related to physical activity, physical education, and sport in their professional practicum experiences (Table 6). When asked what was learned in this area, participant 59 stated, “In my practicum, absolutely nothing (sad to say).” Only 4% of participants reported observing an adapted physical education class during their practicum experiences (Table 6).

Table 5.

Learned information regarding physical activity, physical education (PE), and sport for students with visual impairments in professional preparation courses.

Learned little to nothing	38	56
Learned on own or from work experience	11	16
Learned specific adapted activities or PE for students	8	12
Learned that physical activity or PE was important for students	6	9
Learned that physical activities can be adapted	5	6
Learned about physical activities only at camps or practicums	4	6
Did not respond	13	19

Table 6.

Learned information regarding physical activity, physical education (PE), and sport for students with visual impairments in professional practicum experiences.

Learned little to nothing	33	49
Learned about modifications or inclusion	13	19
Learned outside of school or once on job	9	13
Learned of sport organizations	5	7
Learned that adaptations can be made or no limits	4	6
Learned that physical activity or PE was important for students with visual impairments	3	4
Observed an APE class	3	4
Did not respond	13	19

Analysis was completed on the data regarding the areas in which participants felt prepared for in their job related to physical activity, physical education, and sport for students with visual impairments. This analysis revealed that 32% of participants felt prepared to assist the physical education teacher. Of these participants, 54% indicated that supporting the physical education teacher was a skill that they had learned through experience when working in their role. For example, participant 27 claimed, “I feel prepared now to provide recommendations for adapted physical activities for my students but was not prepared at the beginning of my career.” As can be seen in Table 7, the analysis also revealed that 5% of participants specifically mentioned the American Printing House for the Blind as an equipment resource that they were prepared to use. According to the data collected, 26% of participants felt prepared in areas regarding physical activities for students with visual impairments. However, of these participants, 77% indicated that they had learned about physical activities for students with visual impairments through work experience after graduation from their personnel preparation program. Furthermore, 61% indicated that they learned about physical activities for students with visual impairments on their own, as suggested by participant 59, who claimed, “Much of my knowledge related to [physical education] and sport for students who are [blind or have low vision] comes from my own knowledge.” The data showed that 27% of participants had learned about physical activities for students with visual impairments at Camp Abilities (an educational sports camp for children who are visually impaired, blind, and deafblind; see www.campabilities.org). No participants specifically indicated that they had learned about physical activities for individuals with visual impairments during their professional preparation programs.

Table 7.

Knowledge and ability to share equipment resources for physical education (PE) for students with visual impairments.

	Has heard of (% of all participants)	Can share with PE teacher (% of all participants)
Adaptap	73	4
American Printing House for the Blind	80	69
Bavisoft	0	1
The Beep Kickball Association	34	21
Beyond Sight	26	13
CenturyLink Pioneers	3	3
Dancing Dots	44	11
Flaghouse	34	26
GOPHER	13	3
Lighthouse Guild	51	25
Maxi-Aids	79	66
P.E. Central	4	4
Sportime	9	4

Note. Twelve participants did not respond to this question.

Participants were asked if they wished that they had learned more about physical activity, physical education, and sport for students with visual impairments in their professional preparation programs, and if yes, what. An analysis of the data collected indicated that 72% of the participants wished that they had learned more, including participant 37, who answered, “Yes, anything would have been an improvement.” Analysis concerning what specifically these participants wished they learned more about revealed that 42% of participants wished they had learned more about how to adapt activities for physical education and 20% wished they had learned more about how to access resources. Fourteen percent wished that they had more hands-on practicum experiences related to physical education and physical activity. Regarding what they wished they had learned more about, participant 42 stated, “I’m thinking maybe a specific course being offered that is done in the campus and not through an online course. This way, future TVIs and O&M specialists can actually have hands-on experience/exposure, not just textbook discussions.” In total, 10% of participants indicated that they would have preferred to have had an entire class on physical activity, physical education, and sport for students with visual impairments, and 8% indicated they would have liked to learn how to collaborate with the physical education teacher.

Discussion

Results of this study revealed that 29% percent of participants reported that physical education teachers often turn to them, as the TVI or O&M specialist, for accommodations in physical activities. However, according to the results of this study, the professional preparation of TVIs and O&M specialists did not prepare them to support inclusion in physical education for students with visual impairments, similar to previous research (Haegele et al., 2018). Physical education teachers indicate a lack of adequate preparation to teach students with visual impairments, one of the hardest populations of students with disabilities to teach (Conroy, 2012; Fiorini et al., 2018; Lirgg, Gorman, Merrie, & Shewmake, 2017; Lieberman, Houston-Wilson, & Kozub, 2002).

Over half of the participants did not feel that their professional preparation programs provided an adequate amount of time discussing accessibility and accommodations for students with visual impairments in physical education. Some participants expressed learning in their program that physical activities can be adapted, but not how to adapt activities. Others expressed learning nothing at all in this content area. In reference to what they had learned in their professional preparation courses, participant 55 stated, “Little to nothing. I don’t recall it being discussed at all during the course of my coursework.” The majority of the participants indicated that they wished they had learned more about physical activity, physical education, and sport; including participant 31, who stated, “…I would have liked a methods class on HOW to adapt [physical education], not just the fact that I was responsible for it and the child was entitled to it.”

When considering that physical education teachers typically do not know how to teach students with visual impairments, the results of this study indicated that students with visual impairments fall through the cracks similar to the findings by Lieberman et al. (2002). It can be inferred from these findings that there are few, if any, professionals working with the student with a visual impairment who are prepared to make physical education, physical activity, and sport accessible for them. Lack of adequate professional preparation in accommodating physical activity experiences for students with visual impairments is problematic, since it is in physical education classes where children learn the necessary skills to be physically active for life. However, this study indicates that only some of the TVIs or the O&M specialists can assist the physical education teacher to provide these types of experiences for their students and much of their training occurred outside of their professional preparation.

The current study also found that only some TVIs and O&M specialists are able to recommend adapted equipment for students with visual impairments to be included in physical activity, physical education, and sport, a finding that is similar to Haegele et al. (2018). Although a large number of TVIs and O&M specialists indicated having heard of assistive technologies for physical education for students with visual impairments, fewer felt comfortable using them or sharing them with the physical education teacher. Similarly, 45% of participants indicated that their professional preparation programs did not adequately teach them about equipment resources for adapted physical education. Equipment resources include websites where the physical education teacher could order adapted equipment in order to be able to include their students with visual impairments in lessons.

According to the CDC, high-quality physical education teaches students the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime, and it includes proper equipment and facilities (Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool, (CDC, 2015). Proper physical education equipment for a student with a visual impairment includes having necessary assistive technologies to make class content accessible. The CDC also states that quality physical education means inclusion for all students and adaptations for students with disabilities (CDC, 2015). In order to include students with disabilities in physical education, effective instructional strategies are required. However, the results of this study show that, like the physical education teacher, TVIs and O&M specialists may not be comfortable using instructional strategies for students with visual impairments in physical education. In this way, students with visual impairments may not be receiving quality physical education, which may in turn hinder their ability to be physically active for a lifetime (CDC, 2015).

According to the results of this study, many participants gained competency in skills related to physical activity, physical education, and sport through hands-on work experience after their professional preparation programs. Almost half of the participants indicated learning little to nothing related to physical activity, physical education, and sport in their professional practicum experiences. Some indicating wishing they had more hands-on practicum experiences, including participant 52, who claimed, “I wish we had practicum time involving sports, [physical education], accommodations in the education setting.” Therefore, the lack of knowledge and comfort using assistive technology, equipment resources, and instructional strategies may be due to the lack of hands on experiences related to physical activity, physical education, and sport.

Limitations

A possible limitation of this study was the number of participants. However, the sample size did represent a broad range of schools across the United States, as well as in the number of years of experience of participants. Similarly, although the study included a large age range among participants, more conclusive results could have also been found if we knew when each participant went through their training program. Using snowball sampling poses another possible limitation, since multiple participants from the same university could have skewed the results. Another possible limitation could be the minimal open-ended questions included in the survey. More conclusive results could have been obtained if the questionnaire incorporated more qualitative questions. The results of this study do provide significant findings in reference to professional preparation for TVIs and O&M specialists in physical activity and physical education. However, future research looking directly at university curriculum could provide more conclusive findings. Future research should also be done to determine how professional preparation of TVIs and O&M specialists regarding physical activity, physical education, and sport affect the child in their physical activity engagements outside of school. Similarly, future research should be done to determine what content related to physical activity, physical education, and sport for students with visual impairments would need to be included in the professional preparation programs of TVIs and O&M specialists to increase their ability to assist the physical education teacher in adapting physical education for students with visual impairments.

Conclusions

Professional preparation of physical education teachers creates a major barrier for inclusion for students with visual impairments. However, professional preparation of TVIs and O&M specialists also creates a barrier for inclusion, since many are not prepared to assist the physical education teacher in accommodating students with visual impairments into physical activity, physical education, and sport. This lack of preparation means that there are very few professionals who know how to make the necessary adaptations to include students with visual impairments. Some participants learned these skills over time through hands-on experience, but few left their professional preparation programs with this knowledge. Research must be continued to determine how to improve professional preparation programs to ensure the inclusion of students with visual impairments in physical activity, physical education, and sport.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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