TEACHING OF SCIENCE FOR BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS: A STUDY ON TEACHER PERCEPTIONS, CURRICULUM CONTENT, AND ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

The teaching of natural sciences and mathematics to blind or visually impaired students poses a challenge. Thus, this work investigates the education of sciences for these students, from the perspective of educators engaged in basic education, with the aim of identifying the most challenging content and comprehending the reasons for these difficulties in the context of teaching natural sciences and mathematics. To this end, an effort is made to classify the contents considered most difficult to teach to blind or visually impaired students, based on educators' perceptions. The reasons why these contents are deemed more challenging to teach to blind or visually impaired students are also identified, taking into account educators' experiences and knowledge. Finally, the work specifies which of these contents belong to the field of natural sciences and mathematics. For this purpose, the research adopted a quantitative and descriptive approach, utilizing methods of textual statistical analysis to scrutinize the data. Three categories were identified: Multisensory Didactics, Assistive Technologies, and Difficult-to-Teach Contents. These categories found in this research are inherently related and complement each other in the context of education for blind or visually impaired students, contributing to a quality inclusive education. The results indicate that the surveyed audience understands that certain contents cannot be learned by these students. Thus, some data suggest that this audience may not be able to learn certain contents, and this does not seem coherent to us. It is necessary to overcome stereotypes and prejudices, ensuring that these students are welcomed and valued at all stages of education.