American schools are one of the most diverse institutions in the nation. Children from all backgrounds and experiences come together to learn and develop skills in the same environment for hours every day. The visually impaired population of students is no different. Teachers working with them will encounter students from a wide variety of ethnicities, socio-economic levels, religions, languages, educational experiences, priorities, and abilities. An effective teacher is one who shows respect to staff, students, and families different from them while seeking to understand their way of looking at the world.
A healthy dose of flexibility is essential for any teacher who must be in constant collaboration with so many stakeholders. While the element of diversity does present a challenge, it is a beautiful thing that can be a powerful asset to the learning community. Every student and every teacher has different experiences they bring into that community. Diversity is, in simple terms, an opportunity for all of us to learn from one another.
There are four main reasons why teachers of the visually impaired must act in a culturally responsive way as they strive to make a positive, lasting impact in the lives of those they work with:
- To build strong positive relationships with students and partner with their families as effectively as possible.
- To use language and terminology that makes each student feel welcome, worthy, and valued community members.
- To more fully comprehend each student’s academic and functional needs based on their individual experiences, aspirations, knowledge, talents, and values.
- To make informed decisions on instructional materials that the student will be able to connect with and have the background knowledge to understand.
It is not only in the area of instruction that diversity plays a role, but also in assessment when evaluating and determining the strengths and needs of a student. In order to get a clear perception of a student’s abilities, it is vital to ensure that test content is not discriminatory as far as cultural or language background. In order for the student to demonstrate their best understanding and skills for special educational placement, the test must be in their native language and have c content pertinent to their background knowledge. For example, a low vision English language learner recently immigrated from the middle east would not share the same cultural experiences of children who grew up in the states such as holidays, traditions, values, and colloquial terms.