Evaluation of science and mathematics books used for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania

Abstract

This study evaluated the adapted science and mathematics books for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania secondary schools. It was conducted in 14 regions using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were generated from a sample of 19 heads of school, 103 students, and 77 teachers. The findings of the study show that the books are appropriate for students with visual impairment. However, they lacked enough tactile illustrations and pictures. Further findings revealed that lack of braille knowledge among some teachers limited them from using the books. As such, a few teachers who had braille knowledge had started to use the books while those with limited knowledge did not. Most teachers reported lack of appropriate pedagogy for handling special needs in inclusive classrooms. Therefore, although the books are appropriate, a lot needs to be desired in building teachers’ capacity to use the books. Various inclusive methodological knowledge to teachers needs to be ensured. Furthermore, the books must be improved to include more tactile graphics and pictures to make them more reader-friendly for students with visual impairment. Other educational books, including three-dimensional (3D) models, should be part of the adapted books.

Keywords

Books education for all inclusive education special needs education visually impaired students

Introduction

Globally, it is estimated that 2.2 billion people live with some form of impairment (World Health Organization [WHO], 2019). It is reported that the total number of people with disabilities at the age of 12–16 years in Tanzania was 6,038,999, including 3,008,747 males and 3,030,253 females (United Republic of Tanzania [URT], 2016). This is the age that is eligible for secondary education (URT, 2014). According to the Regional Basic Education Statistics (regional BEST) data, by 2018, students with poor vision and visual impairment (henceforth VI) enrolled in secondary education were 3763 (1665 boys; 2098 girls) and 494 (283 boys; 311 girls), respectively (URT, 2018).

The United Nations, Educational, Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2018) reports that sustainable development goal (SDG) 4 calls for inclusive and quality education for all. It is, therefore, important for teachers in inclusive secondary schools to know students’ vision characteristics to support each student to learn science and mathematics with ease. Students with visual impairment (henceforth SVI) need opportunities to use their non-visual senses, including hearing, touching, taste, and smell to access the curriculum (Fanu et al., 2018). For instance, blind people or those who lost their sight at the early stages of their life use their remaining senses to learn science and mathematics (Agesa, 2014). However, this is not the case in some countries in Africa.

For instance, Maguvhe (2015) reported that in South Africa, of the 22 registered schools for the blind and partially sighted students, only 2 (Prinshof in Gauteng and Pioneer in Western Cape) offered science and mathematics to blind and partially sighted students. This means that approximately 600 out of 3000 students benefitted from science and mathematics subjects. In Tanzania, by 2018 students with poor vision and VI enrolled in secondary education were only 4257 (URT, 2018).

One may wonder how SVI can learn science and mathematics through hands-on activities. The experience shows that Students with Visual Impairment (SVI) use senses, including touching, smelling, and feeling the phenomenon, to build up their conception of the world. Sahin and Yorek (2009) reported that being visually impaired does not mean being incapable of doing certain activities in regular classroom settings. Ediyanto and Kawai (2019) contend that SVI have the same cognitive abilities range and can master higher-order science concepts. However, they may need extra support, including the appropriate pedagogical approaches to learn like their counterpart students without impairment. Kızılaslan et al. (2020) confirm that SVI have the same span of cognitive abilities just like those without VI. Given this scenario, it is important to note that science education for this category of students is very important to develop their talents (Omede, 2015) and contribute to the national economy. In this context, the teachers’ role is to understand the pedagogical approaches that facilitate the understanding and development of the required competencies among SVI. This is because Tanzania has been accelerating the efforts towards building its economy while considering education as a pivot that is inevitable for consideration.

This has been realized in Tanzania. For example, the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty II (NSGRP II) emphasizes education of the people with disabilities to address poverty in Tanzania (URT, 2010). The drawbacks of the smooth implementation of this strategy include improper teaching and learning books and equipment that can support the education of students with disabilities, including SVI in mainstream classrooms. This is because the education systems still routinely lack the specialized human and physical capital necessary to meet the specific needs of disabled children, thereby denying them the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers (Mizunoya et al., 2016). According to Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unity (2018), an inclusive education system must provide a flexible curriculum responsive to different needs among learners.

Statement of the problem

The educational achievement made in Tanzania so far is to help SVI to study Biology in secondary education, which is an essential subject for their life. Biology is essential because it seeks to develop competencies in the areas of nature, nutrition, health, environment, and growth, to just mention a few (URT, 2017). However, one would wonder why SVI never study other science subjects and mathematics, which are important in enabling them to participate and contribute to their living and the national economy.

Although vision allows access to information that helps to build a conceptual understanding, for instance, of basic mathematical concepts, we would expect SVI to face more challenges than their peers without disabilities when solving and presenting problems, and calculating the answers (Brawand & Johnson, 2016). However, well-planned content and its delivery methodology are potential strategies to maximize learning and increase motivation for SVI (Brawand & Johnson, 2016).

However, it must be admitted that students who lost sight in the early stages of their life use the remaining senses effectively to communicate information (Agesa, 2014). As a response to this challenge, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST) in Tanzania developed the curriculum books (students’ books and the teachers’ guide) that could assist SVI to learn chemistry, physics, and mathematics in inclusive classrooms in secondary education.

The books were developed to offer an opportunity for VIS to study sciences and mathematics in an inclusive classroom with their counterpart students without visual impairment, help VIS to acquire an understanding of the nature of science, scientific methods, and their application in daily life, help them to develop competence in sciences and mathematics, and equip them with necessary skills through the use of modern technologies. The books were developed to ensure that learning was achieved through theory and practically similar to their counterpart students without visual impairment. This was done by including in the books several hands-on activities.

The books were developed using the Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics syllabuses and books used in secondary schools. The development of the books was done after conducting a needs assessment from VIS and teachers who were teaching VIS in regular classes. The whole package of books contained Form One, Form Two, Form Three, and Form Four contents. The contents were organized in topics and sub-topics as proposed in the syllabuses. Each topic in the student’s book, for instance, contained an introduction part that explains the significance, rationale, and the list of sub-topics. Then, each sub-topic contained specific objectives, content, activities, and an exercise. At the end of the topic, there was a revision exercise.

The books were developed by subject matter experts (SMEs) in collaboration with teachers who were VIS in inclusive mainstream classrooms, teachers who were teaching VIS in special schools, experts from the MoEST who were visually impaired in the department of special needs education, and the experts from the publishing house for VIS books. SMEs have experienced classroom teachers of Physics, Chemistry, or Biology who had been teaching for several years and were among the national and regional facilitators of in-service training programmes organized by MoEST.

They had experience in developing curriculum books for improving science and mathematics teaching. The role of the SME was to ensure that the proposed content in the books was in line with the content proposed in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics syllabuses. The role of teachers who taught in the mainstream inclusive classrooms was to suggest suitable practical works, experiments, and assessments including their instructions for VIS and their counterpart students without VI learn equally in inclusive classrooms. The role of experts from MoEST who were VI was to suggest the best way the books could be organized to meet the learning needs of VIS in the mainstream classrooms, validate the braille books, and suggest the language of the books that did not offend students’ learning. The publishers produced the books in braille, including tactile and graphics. These books were meant to be used by all teachers in secondary schools, including those who did not study special needs education, to teach students without visual impairments and SVI in inclusive classrooms. By the end of 2015, all secondary schools in Tanzania which enrolled SVI had received the books.

Moreover, the teachers in the schools were expected to have attended the training on basic knowledge and skills to use the books to assist SVI to learn science subjects and mathematics. The training was expected to have been provided to the teachers through regional in-service training programmes or school-based professional development programmes through the heads of school and other teachers who were oriented to the books during the national in-service training programme conducted by MoEST.

By November 2016, Form I¹ students were supposed to have started learning science and mathematics using the developed books. Since the introduction and the beginning of the implementation of the books, no research had been conducted to illuminate their usefulness in assisting VIS and their counterparts learn science and mathematics in inclusive settings. Some research publications, including Mugambi (2012), have pointed out some issues which may act as drawbacks towards attaining the goal to include the school environment, the students themselves, and insufficient training to build the teachers’ capacity to teach in inclusive classrooms. These situations gave a need for this research to inform on the usefulness of the developed books and the achievements made after their introduction to schools.

Objectives

Specifically, the study aimed to:

Investigate whether the teachers and students had started to learn science and mathematics using the books designed for use in an inclusive classroom;

Examine the ability of the teachers to use the designed books to help SVI learn science and mathematics in inclusive settings;

Explore the teachers’ and students’ views about the quality and relevance of the developed books used for teaching and learning science and mathematics in an inclusive classroom;

Explore the challenges that were hindering the smooth use of the books and give suggestions for the effective use of the books in the inclusive classroom.

The conceptual framework

The study followed the 1971 Stufflebeam’s Evaluation Model adapted from Njabili (1999). This Model focuses on the Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) variables, on which one should focus when evaluating curriculum implementation practices. Context evaluation focused on the review of various policy documents, including the Tanzania Education and Training Policy of 2014, 2018–2022 National Strategies for Inclusive Education (NSIE), and NSGRP II which state the need for special attention to inclusive education.

These policy documents stipulate that schools should have started to implement inclusive education and that there would be the availability of books that could facilitate the implementation of education for SVI in inclusive education in schools. They also insist that the teachers should be trained on how to run inclusive classes. Input evaluation considered the introduction of developed books in the forms of students’ books and teacher’s guide to stimulate the implementation of sciences and mathematics for SVI in inclusive education. The process evaluation focused on the teachers’ teaching and students’ learning using the developed books. Finally, the findings (output) of the study informed of the learning gain of the students and teachers teaching using the developed books in the classroom.

Methods

The study was conducted in 14 regions that were purposively sampled to include secondary schools that had enrolled SVI. These regions include Shinyanga, Kagera, Singida, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Morogoro, Dodoma, Rukwa, Iringa, Ruvuma, Tabora, Mwanza, Mara, and Mtwara. There were 19 secondary schools in the sampled regions that had enrolled SVI. The referred to schools include Shinyanga, Rugambwa, Mabiba, Tumaini, Moshi, Longido, Kilosa, Mgugu, Mvumi DCT, Mpwapwa, Kantalamba, Lugalo, Songea Boys, Tabora Boys, Mkolani, Musoma Technical, Kazima, Ndikwa, and Chidya secondary schools. Kagera, Tabora, and Mtwara had two schools each and Morogoro had three schools that had enrolled SVI.

All Form I students with VI in these schools were included in the study. This is because science and mathematics are compulsory subjects for Form I. However, the number of VIS in these schools was small, something that necessitated the inclusion of all students in the study. It was assumed that all VIS could use braille and braille books through the knowledge they could have acquired in primary education. The researcher had to obtain approval from the MoEST to engage the students with SVI in the secondary schools owned by the government and the community. All science and mathematics teachers who taught Form I classes were purposely sampled to participate in the study.

Furthermore, all the heads of schools from the sampled secondary schools constituted the study sample because they had received the training on the leadership role in monitoring the use of the books in the classrooms. The study used a self-administered questionnaire and interview protocols. Science and mathematics teachers in the respective schools were involved in filling the questionnaire. The questionnaire had two parts, closed (i.e., yes/no) questions and open-ended questions. Some questions that were involved in the closed part of the questionnaire sought teachers’ information seeking to know if they had started to use the books in the classroom and if they had attended workshops on how to use the developed books in braille. The questionnaire also provided room for the teachers to evaluate the quality and relevance of the developed books.

The open-ended question required the teachers to report on the challenges that hindered the use of the books and give suggestions for the effective use of the books in inclusive classrooms. Through structured interviews and informal interviews, students provided qualitative data on the use of the students’ books while learning in inclusive classrooms. The structured interviews included questions that sought to collect data regarding if they had started learning through the developed books, the availability of students’ books in schools, and if the books supported self-learning while they were doing the suggested activities in the book. VIS were also asked to say things they liked or disliked most in the book while teaching and learning and finally suggest areas of improvement. The questions were asked to students and the researcher recorded their responses in the notebook for analysis purposes.

The maximum time used for one interview was 20 min. It was important to use structured interview protocols to ensure that students could give specific data of study interest within a convenient time without hindering their learning timetable. Since some of the students were blind, the interview was conducted openly in the school environment, a short distance from their colleagues who accompanied and supported their mobility. Language clarity, consistency in terms of the arrangement, and length of the questions were used to avoid, among other things, offensive language.

Experts from MoEST who were also VI and teachers who taught VIS in inclusive classrooms were involved in validating the interview questions. The heads of schools provided information through structured interview protocols regarding the use of the books in the classroom setting, teacher training, availability of supplementary teaching and learning books, challenges they faced in assisting the teachers and students to use the books, and the quality and relevance of the books.

Data analysis

The study collected quantitative data using closed-ended items in the questionnaire that required the teachers to give the facts regarding the status of the use of the developed books in inclusive classrooms, quality and relevance of the books, and the teacher training status on the use of the books in inclusive classrooms. The data were analysed, organized, and presented in terms of the percentages of the teachers who had started to use the book and had or had not received books and training.

Qualitative data collected through structured interview protocols, informal interviews, and open-ended questionnaires were inductively analysed (i.e., inductive content analysis). The first step involved reading and re-reading the qualitative gathered data to get familiarized with them (Cohen et al., 2011). Next to this, the data were coded. Coding was performed on a sentence-by-sentence, phrase-by-phrase, and paragraph-by-paragraph. Then followed the grouping of data into categories before they were coded. In this stage, only categories with relevant meaning were taken into account while eliminating redundant data.

The categories were regularly reviewed to determine if there are more categories (Bryman, 2012). After this practice, themes were identified by reflecting on the research questions. As with categories, these themes were frequently modified whenever necessary to ensure that they appropriately related to each other. The themes were then hierarchically ordered for readers to understand (Cohen et al., 2011). Finally, the participants’ perspectives and experiences were presented as verbatim quotes.

Results

The findings and observations are presented in line with the research objectives following the methods of data collection.

The participants of the study

The study participants include school, heads of school, number of VIS and their sex, and the number of science and mathematics teachers including the subject they were teaching and their braille knowledge. The number of students in the visited schools was 103 (72 boys and 31 girls). The teachers who participated in the study were 21 Physics teachers, including 15 who had Received the Books (RB) and 6 had Not Received the Books (NRB), 31 Chemistry teachers (13 RB, 18 NRB), and 25 Mathematics teachers (14 RB and 11 NRB). The observation reveals that 77 teachers participate in the study of which 42 (54.55%) had received the books and they had started to teach SVI using the books.

The progress made in teaching and learning using the books

Out of the 42 teachers who were found using the braille books, 26 (61.90%) had received training and had skills to use braille. However, the remaining 16 (38.10%) out of 42 teachers who had received the books had no braille knowledge. Hence, they reported using traditional teaching through talking and use of the chalkboard that did not benefit VIS and did not focus on the use of the developed books. The teachers who used the books and had braille knowledge reported that some VIS lacked skills in using braille; abacus and drawing kits while at the primary school level something that hindered them from adopting the developed books and learning pace.

Furthermore, during informal interviews, the students explained that they had started learning Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics using the developed student’s books. One student gave an example of a Physics teacher who provided them with the Physics book for them to use in the classroom during the lesson. The student appreciated the book because it was supportive while learning. The student said,

. . . When I was reading the physics book, I found the topic of force, work, energy and power which is relevant to real life. If you do something, then you know that force has been applied. You cannot move an object from one point to another without using force. The Mathematics topic of ratio, profit, and loss is very interesting and I like it very much. If you are a farmer, you will know whether or not you have got a profit by selling your crops by deducting all the expenses incurred during production . . .

Such a response indicated that the students had started to use the books in the classroom and therefore they had started to learn science and mathematics.

Knowledge and skills of the teachers on the use of the developed books

The analysis of the questionnaire responses showed that 42 (54.5%) out of 77 teachers who had started using the books had received training on how to handle SVI in inclusive classrooms. They reported that the training enabled them to only acquire very little knowledge and enhancement of the skills in reading and writing using braille. The training was organized by MoEST before the distribution of the books to schools.

The findings from the questionnaire showed that of the 58 teachers who had received the books for use in the classroom, 16 (27.6%) of them had no formal training on how to use the books and they had no braille knowledge and skills. Therefore, they taught the students without using developed books. They taught SVI through sharing expertise with other non-science teachers who were literate in braille usage. A teacher from one of the visited schools, who had not attended the training, said:

. . . When the SVI sit for their exercises or tests or examination, the examination is translated by another person who knows braille. However, the translator is not a science/Mathematics teacher. It could be easier if the subject teacher could directly read that examination . . .

Teachers’ and students’ views about the quality and relevance of the books

Through the questionnaire, the teachers (26 [61.90%] out of 42), who had received the developed books and had received the training, indicated that the contents in the student’s books were relevant to the content in the syllabuses. When asked about the ability of the books in assisting the SVI to learn science and mathematics in inclusive classrooms, the majority (39 [92.86%]) out of 42 who had started to use the books and had received training explained that the books were relevant. However, they were worried about the suggested practical and experimental activities that mostly required vision. However, the teachers appreciated the potential instructions that the books had in guiding the students’ self-learning.

For the case of the SVI, they reported that the books lacked a few things, including diagrams and pictures which could simplify the concepts’ understanding. For instance, they said

. . . Mathematics book has few tactile diagrams, pictures and figures which show various shapes such as triangle and rectangle . . . Chemistry, book lacks diagrams showing various apparatus found in the laboratory . . . Physics book lacks the diagrams showing vernier caliper and submarine.

The observations from the students showed that the lack of some diagrams in the books posed difficulties for the students to understand some of the concepts. The students further explained that the places that contained calculations were not understood because the calculations were illustrated using words instead of numbers, signs, and/or symbols. They gave an example of the concepts in chemical reactions whereby the symbols like ‘-/+’ which indicate heat loss/gain (exothermic/endothermic reactions) were explained in words assuming that SVI could not understand the meaning through the symbols.

Challenges that hinder effective smooth use of the books in the classrooms

The teachers showed concern of time in assisting SVI in inclusive classrooms. For instance, a mathematics teacher reported about time constraints because the subject included more symbols than words. On the side of physics, a teacher from one of the schools reported the hardship that he faced in assisting SVI in understanding the concepts of mass, volume, and density. According to him, these concepts required the observations in the measurement of physical objects and reading of the units that required sight. It was difficult to guide SVI over the concepts mentioned to understand Chemistry. The use of standard equipment like measuring cylinders or beakers to measure and read the units of volume and changes taking place in chemical reactions was considered difficult with SVI. Through the questionnaire, it was further reported that SVI had negative attitudes towards science and mathematics of their nature. Through Focus Group Discussion (FDG), one student gave the following comments:

. . . You may ask the teacher to repeat the difficult part but the teacher replies that he, first, has to finish. He may also urge a student to ask fellow students after the lesson. Later on, one may find that even fellow students had not understood the concept. I like the subjects but I am bored with science and Mathematics teaching methods . . .

Similar observations were reported through interview responses from the heads of schools who had started using the books. Although the heads of school reported the teachers in their schools to have started using the books, they faced the challenges of lack of knowledge on how to smoothly assist the VIS in using those books. Reacting to this, one of the heads of the school said,

Teachers in my school have degrees in education (in general) but they did not specialize in special needs education. They only apply some skills they acquired during a one-week seminar at Morogoro Teachers’ College to teach SVI. However, the acquired knowledge and skills are not enough to cater for the needs of students in an inclusive classroom.

When the heads of school were asked during interview protocols to say if they had any initiative to orient the teachers on the use of the books through school-based training, especially on braille knowledge, they responded that they had not started to do so. The reason given was a lack of funds and facilitators. Most of the schools had not trained teachers who would serve as facilitators. Other heads of schools reported a lack of enough teaching and learning resources to support the teacher in using the developed books. It was reported by one of the heads of schools that teachers did not bother to improvise the supportive books because they did not have enough knowledge of braille. A few teachers who had braille knowledge did not improvise because they had an assumption that VIS would not be able to learn science and mathematics in inclusive classrooms.

The heads of the school further reported that there was no other source of the books identified to address the shortage. They suggested that the number of copies of the Students’ Books (which were in the form of braille) should be increased. The heads of the schools proposed that the MoEST should facilitate the teachers on braille reading and writing for them to be able to guide the students in using the Books. For that reason, the types of equipment such as perking braille, braille, kit, and embosser were proposed by the teachers and heads of school as necessary support to be provided in schools to facilitate smooth usage of the developed books.

Suggestions for effective use of the books in inclusive classrooms

Through the questionnaire, the teachers suggested the improvement of the developed Students’ Books by including the tactile diagrams, calculations, signs and symbols, and pictures. This was to enable students to learn and understand the aspects, including measurements, area, and geometry for mathematics through touching. However, the large class sizes in most of the schools were explained by teachers to hinder the teachers in assisting SVI in inclusive classrooms. They suggested that teachers need to be provided with the skills of inclusive pedagogy and training on how to prepare special books and apparatus to support special needs education.

The teachers further proposed that the books and guides should be available in hard, soft, and audio format to enable the students to easily capture the correct pronunciations of technical terms used in the subjects. Things that were reported by the students during FGD to be liked most by SVI in some schools included the participatory teaching and learning approach which was employed by the teachers during teaching using the Students’ Books. One student had the following comments:

Our Mathematics teacher has been encouraging us a lot. He gives us application exercises and follows them. The physics teacher tries to do the same. On the contrary, the situation is not the same as the Chemistry teacher.

For the students to be able to use the books and develop competencies in the subjects, they said that they needed enough equipment, such as Braille Kit which could assist them in doing various calculations and drawings, embosser, special/speaking computer, and sound recorder for recording classroom sessions for easy revision. This is because the available braille machines in some schools were not enough and they were not working well. They needed typewriters for answering the examinations and various tests since no teacher was able to write and translate Braille texts.

General observations

Generally, the observations made during this evaluation study showed that writing and reading in English using braille was a challenge to students since some of them learned through Kiswahili during their primary school education. English braille language in secondary schools is slightly different from that of Kiswahili. So, training was required for the students to master the English Braille language in the books.

Discussions

As the world is striving to increase human capital through universal access to education, inclusive education is inevitable as millennium development goals (MDGs) and education for all (EFA) have been advocating since 2000 (Mizunoya et al., 2016). As the world is striving to realize inclusive education, nations are called upon to achieve the goal in practice. For instance, Tanzania had not realized inclusive science and mathematics teaching and learning in secondary education for decades shaded light through adapting the books that could be used by both VIS and students without vision challenges while all students are now learning sciences and mathematics in inclusive mainstream classrooms.

The fact that the schools (teachers and heads of schools) had started to use the designed curriculum books was an indication of the value they attached to the initial attempt done by the MoEST as an important input in assisting SVI to learn science and mathematics in the classroom context. However, it was reported that a few other schools had not started using the books. It must be recognized that the Tanzania Education and Training Policy (ETP) states clearly that Tanzania should make sure that inclusive education is possible (URT, 2014).

It should be acknowledged that there was a notable concern on the quality of teaching and performance of VIS in science subjects and mathematics because the books were used by the teachers who had inadequate knowledge in special education. While some literature (e.g., Sahin & Yorek, 2009) report the areas of science and mathematics to have traditionally been inaccessible to SVI because they contain visually presented concepts and information, Maguvhe (2015) confirms that VIS can learn sciences and mathematics as their counterpart students. Niwagaba (2014) revealed that when VIS share books with the sighted children, it helps teachers to influence social and academic inclusions of VIS. Nevertheless, SVI must be trained to use the resources, including developed books to increase their learning (Carpenter, 2020).

The main challenge, however, is that teachers are not trained to teach science and mathematics to VIS; hence, they find it difficult to help the students while learning (Maguvhe, 2015). One would not expect students to have started developing the required competencies in the subjects because of this drawback. Teachers in Ghanaian basic schools faced similar challenges. They failed to support the students in inclusive classrooms because of the lack of appropriate braille skills (Sikanku, 2018). In this particular regard, Korir (2015) argues that the facilities are among the challenges that hinder the implementation of SVI education. The evidence is provided by Niwagaba (2014) that teachers found it hard to demonstrate maps for blind children that creates a gap in the academic inclusion of VIS in ordinary classrooms. Klingenberg et al. (2019) realize that teacher’s competence and motivation, as well as the learning environment, are important considerations for the education of SVI to be successful.

Ediyanto and Kawai (2019) conclude that the SVI can learn science well if there are appropriate supporting tools for them to learn including orientation and movement, tactile and kinesthetic learning, auditory learning and accommodations, and assistive technologies depending on the student’s vision level. Through such initiative, SVI may be able to learn science and mathematics very well. Other environments that constitute a challenge for SVI learning include the classrooms, playground, books, laboratory, and library (Maguvhe, 2015). The study by Niwagaba (2014) on the possibility of including and teaching VIS in inclusive classrooms revealed that the use of tactile, real books, and demonstrations influence academic inclusion of VIS as they compensate for non-visual clues which VIS miss by enhancing their understanding through touch. Eligi and Mwantimwa (2017) report that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) simplifies the learning process through a transformation of the notes and other books that are user-friendly for visually impaired students in an inclusive classroom.

Despite the initiatives to develop curriculum materials to assist SVI to learn sciences and mathematics in an inclusive classroom in Tanzania secondary education, it must be acknowledged that other supports are also needed to supplement the books including educational technologies for SVI to increase interest in sciences (Carpenter, 2020). VIS require instructional presentations that can enable them to acquire, comprehend, recall, and apply science content and related processes (Kızılaslan et al., 2020). Although SVI are not a homogeneous group, Klingenberg et al. (2019) found that interactive e-learning with audio and touch-based assistive technologies are potential tools to enhance good mathematical skills in SVI.

One would expect that during the time of this evaluation study, MoEST could have adequately trained the teachers to handle the developed teacher’s guides and students’ books in inclusive education as an important process of adapting the programme that was new to both schools and teachers. However, this was not the case, the reason that necessitated the slow adaptation of the developed books albeit the teachers’ will in transforming SVI Science and Mathematics education in the inclusive classroom.

A 1-week seminar that was provided to some of the teachers was not expected to provide them with enough knowledge and skills in the process of changing their attitude and knowledge of teaching SVI in an inclusive environment under the resource-constrained environment. This may be the reason for making some teachers believe that SVI could not learn science and mathematics in inclusive classrooms, thus making them lose their interest in preparing the teaching and learning resources that could assist the SVI to learn science and mathematics as their counterparts in inclusive classrooms.

Although teachers faced several challenges in using the books, it is high time that these challenges are addressed for the benefit of the SVI. It is of great importance to believe that the adaptation by the users of the innovations including the developed books should focus on, among other issues, the availability of such books and a supportive environment for easy accessibility. The textbooks and other reference books should increase the use of graphics and images although it is impossible to convert them into braille. However, they may be drawn separately. Whenever possible, teachers should be capacitated to use real things to complement the missing images and pictures in the brailed books (Carpenter, 2020; McAloone, 2007). It has been a practice to introduce new classroom innovations without considering teacher professional learning the reason that slows down the adaptation of classroom innovations. This is what Papadopoulos and Goudiras (2005) argue that teachers need to be provided with professional development on how to use new technologies, including the developed teacher’s guides and student’s books to reduce the implementation tension in the classroom while guiding students to learn.

William (2012) clarifies that teachers lack implementation knowledge of the newly developed innovation. They also lack confidence in implementing the innovation in the classroom (Klingenberg et al., 2019). Likewise, when teachers have the necessary and sufficient methodology and books to assist SVI in an inclusive classroom, the SVI and their counterpart students without impairment benefit from using the same books (Klingenberg et al., 2019).

It must be understood that the evaluated student’s books focused on science and mathematics teaching and learning in the inclusive classroom while accessing the mandatory core curriculum. The books did not consider the inclusion of the aspects of the expanded core curriculum (ECC). However, it is important to realize that skills in ECC are very crucial in assisting SVI to manage the mandatory core curriculum in sciences and mathematics. According to Ntim and Gyimah (2020), ECC is used to define concepts and skills that are typically learned incidentally by sighted students. The nine specialized skills in ECC according to Ntim and Gyimah (2020) include compensatory access skills, sensory efficiency skills, assistive technology skills, orientation and mobility skills, independent, living skills, social interaction skills, recreation and leisure skills, career education skills, and self-determination skills.

Therefore, the skills in ECC would assist SVI to develop competence while learning sciences and mathematics independently, to cope with all educational activities in school. It became clear that those who started the learning of the ECC at the basic level proved to be very competent in most of the ECC skills (Ntim & Gyimah, 2020). This is to say, the skills in ECC enable the SVI to manage the core curriculum including sciences and mathematics. Without training in the ECC skills, students who are visually impaired have difficulty accessing the standard core curriculum (Opie, 2018).

Conclusion

Based on the empirical evidence accumulated through this study, it is concluded that the schools had started using the developed books as planned although some of them delayed starting implementing the same because of inadequate facilities and teacher knowledge on the use of braille. The teachers required support for the effective implementation of the books. For effective implementation of the books, the training on braille, provision of various inclusive methodological knowledge to teachers, and motivation to teachers and students need to be ensured. Finally, for the books to be user-friendly by the students they should contain all the necessary tactile graphics, diagrams, and figures that seemed to limit their understanding of while learning important scientific concepts through touching.

Recommendations

The following are recommendations for the effective implementation of science and mathematics among SVI:

MoEST must ensure that the developed books are improved to include more tactile graphics and pictures to make them more reader-friendly for SVI. Whenever possible, other educational books including three-dimensional (3D) models should be part of the adapted books and books for the students to ease their understanding of sciences and mathematics.

The schools should be provided with enough students’ books in braille, normal texts, and recorder books which could help the SVI to do self-study.

There is a need to make sure that special needs education teachers are allocated to inclusive schools. Similarly, there should be serious and immediate measures to develop the capacity of in-service teachers in teaching SVI, especially the aspect of braille.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-jvi-10.1177_02646196211036409 – Supplemental material for Evaluation of science and mathematics books used for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jvi-10.1177_02646196211036409 for Evaluation of science and mathematics books used for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania by Francis William in The British Journal of Visual Impairment

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-2-jvi-10.1177_02646196211036409 – Supplemental material for Evaluation of science and mathematics books used for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-jvi-10.1177_02646196211036409 for Evaluation of science and mathematics books used for students with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms in Tanzania by Francis William in The British Journal of Visual Impairment

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the MoEST through the Department of Special Education for the financial support to participate in the team that developed and evaluated the implementation of the teachers’ guide and students’ books. The author of this article participated as a Chemistry teacher educator, national facilitator for national science and Mathematics in-service training programmes; the developer of the Chemistry teacher’s guide and student’s book. He was a leader in the process of evaluation and writing the report. The author further acknowledges the University of Dodoma for granting permission to conduct this study.

Declaration of conflicting interests

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

Funding

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

ORCID iD

Francis William

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is appended.

Notes

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