RESEARCH IN SPECIAL EDUCATION A TREND REPORT : N.K. JANGIRA, S.MUKHOPADHYAY
CONCEPTUAL FRAME There are individuals who learn very fast. There are others who do not learn very fast but, with reasonable teaching-learning input, can learn prescribed tasks, maybe over a relatively longer time segment. There are some individuals who find it difficult to learn without special inputs. These are the individuals who have special learning needs which arise out of sensory, intellectual, psychological or socio-cultural deficits. For example, persons with visual, hearing or neuromuscular impairment have learning problems. So have persons with a low level of intellectual functioning and those with disorders in psychological processes. Emotionally disturbed persons have learning problems of their own. These conditions, impairments or disabilities, impede the normal development of individuals-intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically. Needless to say, the discrepancy in their development and the development of those without such impairment depends on the type and degree of the disability. There are, however, ways to reduce this discrepancy through restorative, habilitative and rehabilitative inputs, including education. Thanks to significant developments in medical science, technology and education, the lives of disabled persons can be normalized through special inputs. These persons can also be educated using special instructional methodology and instructional material, and learning aids and equipment specific to special learning needs. It also requires additional teaching com- petencies in the general teacher and, in some cases, special teachers are indispensable. These needs have given rise to the component of education known as Special Education. Special Education, therefore, is that component of education which employs special instructional methodology, instructional materials, learning-teaching aids and equipment, and special teaching a.-id managerial competencies to meet educational needs of persons with specific disability (ies). These needs may be congenital or may arise out of conditions appearing at any stage of life.
Special education also covers persons who deviate from their peers because of excellence in certain functions. As against special needs arising out of impairments, the special needs of the gifted are identified on the basis of positive discrepancy from an accepted norm and mostly reflect the positive extreme of the potential continuum. These persons are considered to have special needs because the education system in general falls to cope with their educational needs for full development of their potential. Special inputs are required for this target group to this end.
If special education is to be viewed as a system of education catering to the educational needs of persons with special characteristics, then it should logically also cover persons with socio-cultural disabilities-tribals, scheduled castes, minorities, a section of women, refugees, orphans, persons coming from below poverty line families, etc. This chapter however is confined to the education of persons with special needs arising out of sensory, intellectual, neuromuscular and psychological impairments, and those arising out of giftedness. Spe-
1318 N. K. JANGIRA AND S. MUKHOPADHYAY
cial educational needs arising out of socio-cultural disabilities have been covered in other chapters.
Considering the nature of special education, the organizational scheme of this review can be conceptualized along several dimensions. For example, one broad dimension refers to the 'excellence' and 'deficit' aspects of the continuum of special education needs, i.e. education of the gifted and education of persons with special needs arising out of disability. Another dimension relates to the process of special education covering identification, assessment, educational setting, educational programming, curriculum development, instructional methodology, managerial input, and instructional out- comes. Yet another dimension can be conceptualized on the basis of the type and methodology of research employed. Research in special education being in the embryonic stage, the coverage of dimensions is also very limited. An eclectic approach synthesizing different dimensions seems to be a viable proposition. If research is to provide an empirical base to special education, research and studies are required within this framework in terms of coverage of the area. There will be surveys for assessing the magnitude and status of ser- vices, correlational studies to generate hypotheses, experimental and quasi-experimental research for studying effectiveness of intervention strategies; development studies for understanding phenomena, development of tools and techniques; case studies and ethnographic studies for providing support to special education programmes. The conceptual framework following this approach has been mapped in Figure 27. 1.
Special education being a multidisciplinary area, it involves active interaction of personnel from different sectors like medicine, education, psychology and sociology. The literature in different sectors uses terminology with their respective discipline bases. This chapter uses the following operational definitions.
Hearing Impaired: Hearing impaired persons have hearing loss in one or both ears due to impairment in the auditory mechanism. The hearing loss is a continuum ranging from mild to severe and profound loss. Deaf persons on this continuum are those whose auditory channel fails to serve as a means of processing speech. There are hearing impaired persons on this continuum whose auditory channel in viable at some level of amplification for processing speech. Hearing impairment can be congenital or acquired at any stage of life.
Visually Impaired: Visually impaired persons are those who have significant loss of or defect in vision due to impairment in one or both eyes. The visual loss presents a continuum. The partially sighted persons are able to use their eyes in some way to read, but blind persons cannot read by any means of vision and use their fingers to read Braille or use talking books. The impairments causing damage to or loss of vision can be congenital or acquired at any stage of life.
Orthopaedic and Neuromuscular Impairments: These conditions refer to motor impairment causing problems relating to muscles and joints affecting gross or fine movement. Neurological impairments along with muscular impairments can lead to sensory deficits and problems relating to intellectual functioning. Polio, cerebral palsy, spinabifido and muscular dystrophy are some of the conditions of disability in this area. Persons with only orthopaedic impairments, though they have locomotor problems, do not have learning problems as such. But those with neurological impairments have learning problems also.
Speech Impairment: This is condition of speech that interferes with communication. It includes problems of articulation, stuttering and voice disorders. It may be due to damage to or loss of the speech organ. It may be a condition associated with sensory impairment like cerebral palsy, hearing loss, or mental retardation.
Mental Retardation: Mentally retarded persons are those with significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period. Their performance on developmental/ intelligence tests and adaptive behaviour scales fall two or more standard deviations below their chronological age peers.
Learning Disability.- Persons with learning disability are average or above average in intelligence and have no visual or hearing impairment, but have specific learning problems in reading, writing, spelling, speaking, and arithmetic due to a disorder in psychological processes like memory, attention and preception. These conditions are presumed to be associated with dysfunction of the central nervous system.
Behavioural or Emotional Disorders: These are manifested in behaviour of individuals deviant from age-appropriate expectations to the degree that it signifi-
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1320 N. K. JANGIRA AND S. MUKHOPADHYAY
cantly interferes with their development and/or the lives of others. In extreme cases, these behaviours can be self-injurious or can be injurious to others.
Gifted: This term describes persons who fall on the positive extreme of the measurement of intellectual functioning, usually on a test of intelligence. They are represented by an IQ of 110 or more. Of late, the scope of giftedness has been broadened to include persons high on other such cognitive characteristics as those relating to creativity.
Integration: Integration is the opposite of segregation. In the context of special education, it implies educational provision for persons with special needs within the educational system for all persons with special needs study side by side with other persons in general educational institutions, of course, supported by special services as per their needs, so as to enable them to develop to their full potential. From this emerges the integrated education setting, which implies education of disabled persons in general institutions.
Special Schools: Special schools provide segregated educational facilities for children with a particular special need. For example, schools for the blind, deaf, mentally retarded and gifted. The recent trend, however, is towards specials schools also serving as resource centres for integrated settings.
QUANTITATIVE TRENDS Research in Special Education, as a subject of independent existence in literature on educational research, is a recent development. The first review of research in special education in the Encyclopaedia of Educational Research (Mitzel, 1982) appeared in 1982 and in the first Handbook of Special Education (Kauffman et al., 1982) in 1983. The first Encyclopaedia, of Special Education (Reynolds et al., 1987) is as recent as 1987. In our own country, this area has received attention only in the current Survey of Research in Education. The first three surveys did not identify sufficient researches to warrant independent review of trends (Buch, 1974, 1979, 1986). Prior to this, an attempt was made at the NCERT by Jangira and Mukhopadhyay (1986) to catalogue and review research in special education in India. The review covered 108 studies at postgraduate level, seven at doctoral level and 35 studies conducted by different institutions. This survey, however, did not cover research on the gifted.
The present survey does not cover research at postgraduate level. Table 27.1 presents yearwise and disabilitywise distribution of doctoral and institutional researches.
Table 27.1
YEARWISE AND DISABILITYWISE DISTRIBUTION OF RESEARCHES
Year VI HI OH MR LD Gifted Misc.
1965 1
1968 1 1 1 1
1969 1 2
1970 1
1973 2 3
1974 1 2 1 1
1975 2 1
1977 1
1978 5
1979 1 2
1981 2 1 4
1982 1 1 1 1
1983 1 1 1
1984 1 2
1985 2 1 2 1 1 2
1986 1 1 1 3
1987 1 1 1
VI: Visually Impaired HI: Hearing Impaired OH: Orthopaedic and Neuromuscular Impaired MR: Mental Retardation LD: Learning Disability
The first doctoral research was conducted by Advani (1965) in the area of visual impairment in the University of Bombay. In all, 57 studies have been recorded covering a span of three decades since then. The largest number of studies in a single year (7) covering practically one in each area of disability appeared in 1985.
Special education being a multidisciplinary area, studies were conducted in different departments. Table 27.2 summarizes yearwise and departmentwise studies.
It can be seen that during the period under review 18 studies were reported in education, two in sociology, 15 in psychology, and one each in economics and linguistics. Out of these 20 have been institutional studies financed by such agencies and organizations as the NCERT, ICSSR, UGC and UNICEF.
RESEARCH IN SPECIAL EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 1321
Table 27.2
YEARWISE AND DEPARTMENTWISE SUMMARY OF STUDIES
Year Edu. Psy. Socio., Eco. Lingu. Institu- Total
tions
1965 1 1
1966 1 1
1968 1 1 2
1969 1 2 3
1970 1 1
1973 1 4 5
1974 2 2 4
1975 2 1 3
1977 1 1
1978 4 1 5
1979 2 1 3
1980 2 2
1981 1 5 6
1982 2 1 3
1983 1 2 3
1984 2 1 3
1985 3 1 3 7
1986 3 1 4
1987 1 2 3
Total 18 15 21 1 20 60
Education of Visually Impaired In all, ten studies on education of visually impaired persons were reported since 1965 when the first doctoral study was conducted by Advani at the University of Bombay. The nationwide study, following survey methodology, purported to identify educational and psycho- logical problems of blind children. The problem relating to a blind person's access to education was highlighted as the study revealed that on an average, only one special school existed for each 8,000 blind children in the country. It is, however, difficult to draw a valid conclusion regarding the adequacy of facilities from this survey as neither the basis of assessing the population of visually impaired children in the education age group is stated, nor the nature and degree of disability specified. With the expansion of educational fa- cilities for visually impaired children in general schools, under the centrally sponsored scheme of Integrated Education of Disabled Children, the survey of facilities should be updated. The NCERT conducted a survey of institutions for the blind in 1968, and in 1981 a study of Regional Centres for the training of teachers for the vis- ually impaired was conducted. Bhalerao conducted a sociological study in this area (1975).
Two studies investigated the adjustment of blind children (Williams, 1981 and Pandey, 1985). Bala (1985), Goel (1986) and Rohidekar and Usha (1981) carried out comparative research across disability. Paknikar developed an intelligence test for the blind in 1975 at Bombay.
Table 27.3 shows distribution of studies in education of the visually impaired according to the areas and setup, i.e. institutional or individual, in pursuit of a doctoral degree.
Table 273
DISTRIBUTION OF STUDIES ON EDUCATION OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Period Nature Survey Tr. Tests & Inter- Others Total
Ph.D. Inst. Trg. Materi- vention
at Dev.
1965-69 1 1 2 2
1970-74
1975-79 1 1 1 1 2
1980-84 2 2 2
1985- 2 2 3 1 4
Total 4 6 8 1 1 10
As is evident from the Table 27.3, very few studies have been conducted on education of the visually impaired. Most of them are surveys of educational facilities, teacher training or problems and adjustment of visually impaired children.
The lone intervention study, relating to an integrated setting as a learning environment for visually disabled children, was conducted by Jangira (1987). The study investigated sociometric choices relating to small group work-academic, managerial and play related. it also provides the direction of choices from visually disabled to visually disabled peers, visually disabled to non-disabled peers, and non-disabled visually disabled non-disabled peers. Ranking of the visually disabled children has been used as a criterion to get an assessment of academic achievement. The study indicates that visually disabled children are neither isolates nor are they below average in achievement.
Major reasons for low yield of research is lack of interest among the universities and research institutions and lack of expertise. Location of the educational structure for disabled children in the Departments of Welfare for many years also contributed to the alienation of
1322 N. K. JANGIRA AND S. MUKHOPADHYAY
university departments of education (Jangira and Mukhopadhyay, 1986).
Education of Children with Neuromuscular and Orthopaedic Impairment
Eleven studies have been reported in this area. These include Bala (1985) and Goel (1986) reported earlier since both compared variables across disability. Pinto (1974) compared orthopaedically handicapped children with non-disabled children on selected variables like need achievement and reaction to frustration; Deshmukh (1979) compared on the variables of locus of control, belief, anxiety and dependence proneness; Mathew (1974) compared them in respect of the feeling of inferiority; and Bala (1985) compared them on measures of personality. Srivastava (1981) studied stress and the coping mechanism adopted by orthopaedically handicapped children. Nirmala (1981) surveyed the work done by the voluntary agencies. Usha (1981) covered problems relating to education of the physically handicapped in the state of Karnataka. Pathak's (1983) is the only study covering the learning environment. Personality traits of children with orthopaedic handicap placed in an integrated setting were studied. The study claims the results to be satisfactory, but in the absence of comparative data the validity of the claim remains doubtful.