Teaching blind children to ‘see’ real life
Published 06 January, 2008, 16:08
Forty minutes drive out of Moscow, but a world away from the bustling capital city, the school for the blind and visually impaired is sheltered but far from quiet. The first concern here is ensuring pupils are ready for the toughest lesson of all – life in the 'real world'.
The teachers are caring, but strict. They make do with the resources they have to give the best education they can to their 150 pupils.
The students study the national curriculum and many are achieving grades that mainstream school pupils can only dream of.
Though they face difficulties, the school is all about making the pupils strong in themselves and to become individuals, including through the use of music and sport, .
Svetlana Savchenko, the school psychologist, says the main goal of her psychology classes is to prepare them for social adaptation: for example asking for and receiving help; the ability to stand up for their wishes and values; the ability to say no, and being able to set and achieve goals.
Lack of funds
However, funds are tight. Every school place is free, but expensive for those who run it. The school needs a new roof and new computers. The head teacher Nina Makeyeva says it's woefully underfunded, but that there isn't a school out there that can offer what they do.
“It would be best to integrate them into normal schools, but nowadays normal schools are not equipped for these children. They don’t have the facilities or people who'd take care of them. So for the time being these specialised schools are the best option”.
Lessons that make it to real life
To adapt to the seeing world, where they already know life will be tough and breaking through social stereotypes and stigma, the pupils are encouraged to learn life skills: lessons with blind sticks where they visualise negotiating the Moscow metro.
Lessons in massage are useful for relaxation, and for those who may go on to enter the profession. Many have gone to have a successful career, using their highly developed sense of touch.
Good careers beckon. Former pupils have gone on to be computer programmers, professors and journalists. Others have returned to teach at their alma mater. They say they felt comfortable there when students and they feel the same working in that school.
“Studying at this school helped me develop and grow and gave me an opportunity to realise my potential in the grown-up world,” said Tatyana Demchenko, a former student who is now teaching at the same school.
A girl student stressed she’s learned there that blind people are not doomed.
“They can live just like everybody else – and may be even better. They can achieve things in this life on their own,” she said.
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