Does the type of educational setting (mainstream or specialist schools) and degree of impairment (low vision or blindness) have any influence on self-concept?

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the self-concept of students with vision impairments who were placed in mainstream and specialist schools in South Australia. Self-Concept was studied across six dimensions, namely Physical, Moral, Personal, Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts and the Total Self-Concept. The ‘Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: Second Edition’ was administered to 25 students with vision impairments (including low vision and blind students) who attended mainstream or specialist schools. Although most of the students with vision impairments obtained low scores on all dimensions of self-concept, namely physical, moral, personal, family, social and academic, there were some students who attended specialist schools and are blind that obtained normal scores in family, social and academic self-concepts. There were no significant differences between students with vision impairments that attended mainstream or specialist schools and between students with low vision and those who are blind across the six dimensions of self-concept and thus total self-concept. These findings have implications for mainstream teachers, special educators, support staff and a range of professionals in the education and special education sector in enabling a greater understanding of the self-concept achievement of the students with vision impairments that attended mainstream or specialist schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Students with vision impairments
• low vision
• blindness
• mainstream schools
• specialist schools
• South Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Poulomee Datta

Poulomee Datta is a Senior Lecturer in Inclusive Education and the Course Director for the Primary Teacher Education programme at Macquarie University in Sydney. She has worked in national and international research projects designed to improve the educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities. As part of her research achievements, Poulomee has won (as part of a team) and successfully completed four externally funded research projects in Inclusive Education. She has published one sole-authored research book (with Springer publishers), four book chapters with high quality publishers (e.g. Springer and Palgrave Macmillan) and 21 international peer-reviewed journal articles in high impact publications (e.g. the International Journal of Inclusive Education, British Journal of Visual Impairment, Australasian Journal of Special Education and Disability Studies Quarterly).

Iliana Skrebneva

Iliana Skrebneva has a background in Inclusive Education. With extensive experience in the field before commencing her work in academia, Iliana has a deep understanding of the many facets of Inclusive Education. Iliana’s research interests are within the broad area of Inclusive Education, focusing on how teaching approaches or services can be developed to successfully support diverse groups of students. Her research focuses on the inclusion of students with hearing impairment in mainstream classrooms, and she also conducts research in the area of low vision and blindness in young children. She has expertise in qualitative research methods and research ethics.