Investigating the teaching of literacy to children with hearing impairment in mainstream primary schools in Malawi: a case of selected schools in central east educational division

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to investigate the teaching of literacy to children with hearing impairment (HI) in mainstream primary schools in Malawi. The study focused on three regular teachers in standards 3 and 4 and one specialist teacher for children with HI in a resource room. The shift from special schools to mainstream schools has witnessed declines in literacy performance among children with hearing impairment in regular schools, hence the need to investigate the instructional strategies employed by teachers. A qualitative case study design was adopted for this study. Data was mainly collected through observation of lessons in class and interviewing the participants. The participants were purposefully selected in order to get a deeper understanding of the case. Among them were three regular teachers and a specialist teacher for children with HI. The theoretical framework guiding the study was socio cultural theory. The study came up with four themes which included teaching strategies teachers use when teaching literacy to children with HI, teaching materials/resources used when teaching literacy to children with HI, assessment of literacy to children with HI and challenges teachers face when teaching literacy to children with HI in mainstream primary schools. The findings revealed that teachers are not effectively using inclusive methodologies when teaching children with HI in mainstream primary schools. The findings also revealed that in most classes the resources such as learner’s books were not adequate and made reading tasks very difficult to most learners including children with HI. The study also found that children with HI were not fully engaged/supported because of language and communication problems between the regular teachers and the child with HI. The findings also revealed that specialist teachers who are stationed in resource centres fully helped children with special needs but are few and overloaded with work of teaching both regular classes and resource room. The findings entail that there are many challenges as regards to the teaching of literacy in mainstream schools which need urgent attention by all stakeholders. Schools and government should mobilize resources to train all teachers in mainstream primary schools through the existing specialist teachers in various districts and regions on inclusive methodologies which are responsive to the needs of all children of different diversities, including children with HI in Malawi.