Use of individualized education plans by biology teachers for learners with visual impairment in inclusive secondary schools classrooms in Lira District

Abstract

This study investigated biology teachers’ use of individualized education plans in teaching and learning of biology in an inclusive classroom in secondary schools in Lira District. Semi-structured interviews with the biology teachers, classroom observations, document reviews, and analysis were used to gather qualitative data. The data was transcribed verbatim, coded, and thematically analyzed to produce the themes. This qualitative study used a cognitive constructivist theoretical framework to understand IEP usage in biology learning classrooms. The findings of this study were reflected through themes: as (a) basic understanding of IEPs (theme 1), (b) familiarity with IEPs (theme 2), (c) limited understanding of IEPs (theme 3), (d) integration of IEPs in lesson planning (theme 4), (e) identification of learning goals for visually impaired (VI) (theme 5), (f) creation of learning resources (theme 6), (g) learner assessment and adaptation (theme 7), (h) nature of feedback (theme 8), (i) inadequate teachers’ knowledge (theme 9), (j) teachers’ attitude towards VI (theme 10), (k) fixed timetable (theme11), (l) resource constraints (theme 12), (m) teacher preparedness and training (theme 13). The findings of the study showed that; a few biology teachers could assign students with Visual Impairment (V.I) group projects before the day of presentation as required by competence-based curriculum, little attention was given to learners during the teaching and learning process. The biology teachers taught all of those learner categories using a lecture style. While most biology teachers were able to express their thoughts on the usage of IEP, none of them had detailed evidence on how they implemented IEP in their classroom instruction. Based on the results, it was also shown that biology teachers had negative views about the needs of students who are visually impaired. Although research has shown that a variety of factors contribute to the implementation of individualized education plans, this study also proves that biology teachers' acceptance of IEPs explains the performance of students with visual impairments. This study clarifies the current situation of visually impaired students' poor performance in biology at the regular level and highlights the value of customized learning programs in supporting them. According to the study's findings, individualized education plans seem to have a big influence on how well students with visual impairments learn and perform. As a result, more research would use the positivist and pragmatic paradigms in other educational settings.