Students with visual impairments are an understudied population. In particular, very little is known about the writing instruction they receive. In a 2019 grant from the National Center for Special Education Research, a team of researchers led by Drs. Michael Hebert and Mackenzie Savaiano, set out to better understand the writing instruction practices of teachers of students with visual impairment and the general education teachers with whom they work, the factors that influence these practices (teacher preparation, beliefs and expectations, and collaboration), and the writing outcomes of students with visual impairments. We interviewed Michael and Mackenzie to find out more about how this research came to be, what they are finding, and what it means for students with visual impairments and their teachers.
Can you share a bit about your backgrounds and what led you to this line of research?
Mackenzie: My background is in teaching students with visual impairments. In college, I met a blind student during an internship who taught me braille. I fell in love with braille and went on to get my master’s in teaching students with visual impairments and then later my doctorate on visual disabilities. I used to be much more focused on braille literacy; however, while working at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to prepare teachers of students with visual impairments, I realized that braille users represented only a small subset of students with visual impairments. This realization led to casual conversations with Michael and other colleagues about what kinds of instruction teachers provide to students with visual impairments, given they are such a heterogeneous group.
Michael: I started off as an elementary school teacher and, later, a reading specialist. While focused on supporting kids with reading difficulties, I discovered that if I included writing in my reading instruction, kids seemed to improve on reading. Later, when pursuing a doctorate, I became particularly interested in teaching writing to kids who struggle (e.g., students with a learning disability or language barriers). In talking with Mackenzie, I realized I would not know how to teach kids with visual impairments how to write, even with all my training. And this led me to a series of questions: How are teachers prepared to teach writing to kids with visual impairments? What do they do in the classroom? Who is responsible for teaching writing? How do these teachers collaborate?
During our early research on this topic, teachers told us that some of their students with visual impairments did not write. In some cases, these kids simply did not write in traditional ways. This made us think more broadly about writing as including any type of expressive communication that could be written and shared later with others. For example, it could include using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), an adapted form of a picture communication system using physical objects to communicate things in a sentence, switches to generate output that the teacher then writes down, verbal dictation or speech to text, or touch screens to pull over words to form a sentence. This realization—that there are a lot of different approaches to writing and a variety of ways to teach writing—is what ultimately led to this project.
So far, what is your research showing when it comes to teacher collaboration and writing instruction for students with visual impairments?
Mackenzie: We haven’t fully analyzed or published these data, but anecdotally, we are seeing that patterns of collaboration between teachers of students with visual impairments (TVI) and general education teachers vary depending on the students’ level of need. For instance, for kids using braille, there is more communication across teachers, which may be related to the amount of time the student is supposed to receive services from the TVI according to their IEP. Teachers of students with low vision generally have lower levels of collaboration. The model of communication tends to be that the TVI will provide consultation on an as-needed basis and engage in limited direct service. For kids with multiple disabilities, patterns seem more variable.
Michael: The collaboration is as varied as the population. Some TVIs are very hands off and focus more on providing resources for teachers. Others provide direct service, teaching the kids and teaching the teachers how to teach the kids. It somewhat depends on the teachers’ level of experience, in that newer teachers seem to collaborate more.
What has been the most surprising aspect of this research so far?
Michael: Some teachers create artificial barriers for students when it comes to writing. As we found in our early research, some of them will say their kids with visual impairments can’t write, even if they can communicate in writing (perhaps in less traditional ways). At the same time, we’ve also seen that these teachers are often willing to try and teach writing and are surprised by their students’ ability.
Something else we’ve seen that we didn’t anticipate is that there are a lot more kids with visual impairments who have multiple disabilities. It’s not just kids who are blind or have low vision. There are complex needs.
Mackenzie: Seeing the range of what is and isn’t happening in classrooms is really interesting, especially as a former practitioner. There is a lot of variability. Teachers are eager for feedback and tips.
Michael: To follow up on Mackenzie’s point, we suspect that one of the barriers to getting teachers on board is that some teachers are apprehensive to reveal that they don’t necessarily know how to teach certain kids and they are afraid to admit they need support.
What are the next steps for this work, in terms of implications for practice as well as future research?
Mackenzie: One of the goals is for this research to inform professional development for teachers around writing instruction for kids with visual impairments.
Michael: In addition, we also need to think about better ways to remove barriers and support kids in improving their writing skills across a variety of different communication techniques.
Dr. Michael Hebert is a Professor at the University of California, Irvine and Dr. Mackenzie Savaiano is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
