Visually Impaired Teachers

Graduates from the ADPP Teacher Training College of Nhamatanda

CASE STORIES

BACKGROUND In a country with so many inequalities and where life for the disabled people remains a hard struggle, all contributions towards strengthening the rightful place of the underpriviledged in their communities represents a step towards a more just society. And not only – even the smallest of contributions can be crucial in making the lives of those concerned less dark and in offering life-changing experiences of achievement and fulfilment. It is in this context that ADPP Mozambique began training visually impaired teachers at its Teacher Training College in Nhamatanda, Sofala Province, in 1999. Today, altogether 48 visually impaired teachers have graduated from the College. The studies of 11 of them were made possible by the generous support received from the Light of the World, an NGO committed to improving the quality of life of visually impaired people around the world. PURPOSE As the following case stories show, disabled people – and in this case, visually impaired teachers – can be active, productive and self-sustainable members of the society they live in. The training they have received has given them an opportunity to contribute to the education of the new generation of Mozambicans and offered them a wealth of reasons to be proud of their achievements. CROSSCUTTING EFFECTS Working with a high level of professionalism, passion and dedication and being able to show the results of one’s work – these are some of the building blocks for growing respect towards disabled people in any given society. Seeing children learn during the lessons given by visually impaired teachers, having fellow teachers taking an active role in integrating visually impaired teachers in the school community, and having the community look up to them as respectable members of the society – all this contributes, in a significant way, to the maturing of attitudes towards disabled people and to strengthening the respect for all minorities in general. RESULTS The visually impaired people featured in this document have been successful in improving the quality of their life and strengthening their sense of dignity, their self-esteem and hope in a brighter world. They have also managed to be productive, independent and active members of society even in one of the most underprivileged regions of the world.

TO OUR PARTNER

These case stories have been collected in 2014 by interviewing some of graduates from the ADPP Teacher Training College in Nhamatanda, Sofala Province. The training has been offered to visually

impaired students since 1999.

RAUL JOSÉ SITOE Raul José Sitoe is a 41-year-old visually impaired English teacher and a father of 3 children working at the Primary School of Inhamizua in Beira, central Mozambique. He is also a remarkable person who has managed to overcome the limits of his handicap and achieve complete inclusion at his workplace. “A good teacher” is how his colleagues describe him. Who has had the priviledge of attending his classes understands why. In this line of work since 2004, Raúl believes that there is no real difference between him and the teachers who can see. He plans each lesson carefully, studying the contents of the pages he will

cover during his class in detail with the support of a seeing colleague. This allows him to organize his lessons according to text books and explain their content in vivid detail to the students in the classroom. “I have high standards in my relation with the students,” Raúl explains. “The first impressions create high expectations. I seek to maintain or exceed these expectations every day.” Raúl received his teacher training at the ADPP Teacher Training College (TTC) of Nhamatanda after graduating from the Pedagogical University in History. The biggest challenge during his training period was related to the lack of training material in Braille. This didn’t prevent him from keeping pace with his colleagues and learning from fellow students with normal eyesight, however. “All in all, studying at the TTC brought an amazing improvement in my life,” he affirms. Raúl shares episodes of his early years at work with enthusiasm, mentioning also the doubts that some colleagues had about his professional performance in the beginning. Some of them attended his classes without him realizing it, peaking through the classroom windows while he was teaching. One day the Headmaster called him to his office and, to his surprise, told him: “Raúl, you are one of the best teachers in the school and the one I’m most proud to work with!” The Headmaster went on to explain that, he too, had seen Raúl’s class through the window and was very pleased with what he saw. The episode took place over 10 years ago, but continues to be an important source of joy and happiness for the "Good Teacher". It also clearly illustrates that his visual condition does not limit his dreams.

Age: 41 years

Years as teacher: 10 years

L iv ing in: Inhamizua, Beira

Team 2000

In the heart of Beira, the second largest city in Mozambique, lives the very first blind teacher of the country. Júlio Tecateca, 45 years, works today as a teacher at the Institute for Visually Impaired People in the same city. This humble man has fought great battles and reached greater achievements. Maybe that is why he is known as "The Great Tecateca". “I lost my eyesight at the age of 7. It all started with a simple pain in the eye, followed by an eye inflammation. Before I knew it, I was completely blind,” he begins his story. Júlio Tecateca was part of the first team piloting the training of visually impaired teachers at the ADPP Teacher Training College of Nhamatanda in 1999. Being the first blind person to graduate as a teacher in Mozambique, he is an important reference in the whole country and a clear success story in his own right. There were major difficulties along Júlio Tecateca’s way to graduation, however. One of them was that the physical surroundings of the training center were not prepared for visually impaired people. “It was challenging to have access to places and to find water for bathing, for instance,” he explains. “It was also difficult to carry out some of the schoolwork by myself.” The hardships were aggravated by Tecateca’s colleagues’ lack of skills in living together and working with blind people. Most of the challenges were overcome in the course of time, however – mainly thanks to the help of committed colleagues who provided him care and support throughout his studies, helping him thus to finish his course with success. As a teacher, Júlio Tecateca has perfectioned his methods along his career as he has gained more experience: “The methodologies I use to teach classes are group work, independent work and participative exercises,” he explains. “I can say that I have been successful in my teaching:

all my pupils know how to read and write without any problems. I have also developed good relations with colleagues, students and the school community in general.” The biggest difficulties Tecateca faces in his daily work today are related to the lack of materials for blind people, such as typewriters and books in Braille. This type of material would facilitate his work as a teacher and the learning of blind students in a significant way. Tecateca says that he is grateful to all who provide him support and help him carry out his work in the best manner possible. “I am thankful to my students because they help me with the writing on the blackboard. I also owe thanks to my colleagues who help in planning the lessons and the school board who is there for me whenever necessary. The children’s parents are active in contributing to the children’s learning process as well.” A special thanks goes to the ADPP Teacher Training College, however. Completing the training course has had a decisive role in Tecateca’s life, enabling him to reach various goals, both on a personal and a professional level: it has allowed him to reach financial independence, to construct a house, to complete a university degree in Educational Psychology, and to have a career as a teacher. Without it, he would have not been accepted into higher education. Without it, he would have not been elected provincial delegate of the Mozambican Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted (ACAMO). It has also been crucial for his social life: without it he would have not established the many friendships he today enjoys both at work and in his free time. “I call for more support and training opportunities for handicapped people,” pleads Tecateca. “We all have a right to contribute in the development of our communities and the country in general.”

JÚLIO TECATECA

Age: 45 years

Years as teacher: 12

L iv ing in: Beira, Sofala

Team 1999

MÁRIO ARMANDO Mário Armando is a 38-year old visually impaired Portuguese teacher from the Josina Machel Primary School in Dondo District, Sofala Province. Married, father of 4 children, and on the job since 2004, he is also a person who has not let his visual condition dominate his life. Quite the contrary: he has made overcoming doubts and complexes and reaching recognition as a teacher a positive challenge and his personal life goal. Mário Armando is convinced that one of the keys to performing well as a blind teacher is the thorough preparation done prior to lessons. In his opinion, “a visually impaired teacher has to be strong enough, skilled enough and brave enough. When you have this condition, people often doubt your abilities and put you to test. One should not be hurt easily.” All challenges can be overcome, believes Mário. “What one needs is strong commitment and a willingness to learn from others.” Like most successful people, Mário has also gone through some hard times. He belonged to the first team of students with visual impairments trained at the ADPP Teacher Training College of Nhamatanda, but saw his ambitions soon frustrated by the lack of money – leading him to not being able to even offer himself decent clothes at times. Eventually, Mário had to quit. He never gave up on his dream, however. Like a good fighter, he only took one step back to soon take two forward again: in 2002, Mário returned to the College, this time well prepared and extremely motivated – and graduated with success at the end of the same year.

The biggest test came after graduating, however: Mário had to prove his skills to other people and make them accustomed with the idea that a visually impaired person can practice the teaching profession. "It was very difficult for me to integrate in the beginning. I had no support from anyone – everyone doubted my abilities. Even the people from the community came to watch my classes: they wanted to see how I behaved towards the students in the classroom,” Mário explains. “I had to be very strong to endure that sort of pressure.” “Nowadays I no longer need to prove anything,” Mário adds with pride in his voice. This is evidenced by the various favorable comments about the teacher made by his colleagues and students – and even the members of the community who first doubted him. Today with a degree in teaching Philosophy from the Pedagogical University, Mário Armando believes that the training he received at the ADPP Teacher Training College was crucial in opening the doors to him. Even the relatives who earlier discriminated him because of his visual condition, now give him support.

Age: 38 years

Years as teacher: 10

L iv ing in: Dondo, Sofala

Team 2002

Rui Madeira is a 37-year old teacher with a degree in School Psychology from the Pedagogical University of Mozambique and with a feature that distinguishes him from the overwhelming majority of his colleagues: he is blind. When he was in 4th grade, he fell ill with measles and lost part of his vision as a consequence. Rui’s professional career is fraught with challenges, but also with voices of trust and support from his colleagues at the 25 de Setembro High School in Chiveve, Beira. This is where Rui teaches the 6th and 7th grades in Portuguese, Social Sciences, Musical Education and Moral and Civic Education. These subjects fit well Rui’s disability: they allow him not to write on the blackboard, contrary to the lower grades. “My way of working is by using active teaching methods such teamwork, study excursions and other participative techniques,” he explains. “This is a way to create active collaboration between the students, which in turn enhances their academic performance. This is to compensate for my difficulties in collecting contents for the lessons: I don’t have access to books and other materials in Braille to facilitate my work.” During a quick chat, in the shade of a cashew tree, Rui retraces the main lines of his gripping life story from the great difficulties in the beginning to regaining his almost lost sense of dignity, deteriorated over time by his visual condition and the way people treated him because of it. Because of his blindness, Rui was discriminated even by his family. “The teacher training at the ADPP Teacher Training College in Nhamatanda saved my self-esteem,” Rui states.

“Before starting to work, some of the well-to-do members of my family did not speak to me, even in family gatherings, discriminating me simply for not being like them, a person with normal vision. But since I started working as a teacher, things changed,” Rui explains, visibly moved by his own words. Rui’s period of teacher training (2005-7) was anchored by good relations with colleagues, most of them with normal eyesight, who helped him solve the tasks he was required to do as a student. They explained him the exercises and described the materials, and he then solved them using Braille. According to him, he graduated without major difficulties. Rui’s first professional experience in 2007 was to be member of an Enrollment Committee. His task was to check how many students had enrolled and how many had not. According to him, this was a unique experience. A group of colleagues motivated him to bring his Braille machine to type with. Rui confesses that the way his colleagues had immediately accepted his visual condition gave him great motiation to work when the school year began. In the course of his 7 years of activity, Rui has assumed more and more responsibilities and is today member of a monitoring and evaluation group of children with special educational needs. In this task, he has been accompanied by a person with normal eyesight who helps describing the set of deficiencies and special needs identified in students. The active participation of the children’s parents has also been key in performing this task.

RUI JOÃO MADEIRA Age: 37 years

Years as teacher: 8

L iv ing in: Beira Team 2002

Victor Tembo is a 42-year old TTC Nhamatanda graduate and today a primary school teacher working at the Eduardo Mondlane Primary School in Dondo District, Sofala. Completely blind, he lost his sight after contracting measles when he was 7 years old. Victor teaches Social Sciences and Moral & Civic Education to 6th and 7th grades, with 50 students per class. According to him, a person’s visual condition is not and should not be considered a limitation but a challenge for integration. Victor started working as a teacher in 2005. “It was not easy to convince the School Board that I can teach children with normal vision,” he explains. His colleagues were convinced that a visually impaired teacher could only teach visually impaired children. It was only after lengthy explanations and consultations at schools that had accepted teachers with visual impairments that the Board finally decided to allow Victor teach eleven classes. Even so, doubts about his capacities persisted, leading to Victor being a target of frequent unexpected audiences in his classes. The initial curiosity faded with time, however, and today Victor is visibly pleased with the way he has managed to gain the trust of his colleagues. In his day-to-day work as a teacher, Victor uses various participative methodologies in carrying out his lessons and makes the best possible use of the existing materials he finds in the school. “My greatest difficulty is in collecting contents for the lesson,” he laments. “It is thanks to these participative methods and to the good collaboration with the teachers, the students themselves and the

School Board that I have been successful in ensuring that my students perform well: my colleagues assist me with the quarterly planning and the choice of the teaching materials and my students help me with timetables and in transcribing the subjects on the blackboard. The community has also contributed in facilitating my work.” What most delights Victor in his work is sharing his knowledge with his students and, at times, with the community members. The latter often find these situations quite extraordinary: many of them think that being blind means being incapable. “I’m happy to prove that even though this disability doesn’t allow me to see pictures, I can do many other tasks just as any person with a normal vision – and sometimes even better!" he smiles, only to soon change his tone: “The reality is often not that rosy, though. Visually impaired people face many difficulties when they want to enter the labour market.” It is also in this sense that the training at the TTC Nhamatanda was an exception: the training was preceded by an adjustment period, during which Victor and the other visually impaired colleagues were introduced to the physical environment of the College and offered a chance to adapt to the teaching methods in use. “A special thanks goes to my students and colleagues for their understanding and the support they have always provided unconditionally,” Victor concludes. “Their support has strengthened my dedication as a teacher and motivated me in doing my best in conveying my knowledge.”

VICTOR TEMBO Age:  42  years  

Years  as  teacher:  9    

L iving   in:  Dondo,  Sofala  Team 2002

DANIEL MEIDE MAGUMBA

I answer by the name of Daniel Meide Magumba. I’m single and have been a primary teacher for the last 4 years. I started to lose my vision when already an adult, but I can still see a little bit. I teach PE to the 6th and 7th grades and I can also teach Moral and Civic Education, Natural Sciences and Crafts if I have an assistant in the class. During my lessons, I use various methods and educational materials provided by the school. I especially enjoy teaching PE – and apparently the students enjoy my classes as well: they always attend them in masses. The major difficulties are mostly related to the preparation and execution of some of the exercises. Then again, my relationship with the school community is very good: the students support me a lot and there is an atmosphere of mutual aid among the teachers as what comes to lesson planning and guidance on what is required to run the classes. I think that in order to ensure a good coexistence, especially in a case like mine where the teacher has a handicap, the whole school community should have an atmosphere of mutual respect. The students should avoid laughing and whispering about the disability of the teacher and the school directors and colleagues should not underestimate the capabilities of the disabled teacher. I must mention that this is not my case. I have been lucky in this sense: the whole community has contributed a lot in towards me being able to fulfill my duties. I am proud to be a teacher: I can sustain myself and help my family. I have a good relationship with my colleagues and everyone else around me. I talk to and exchange experiences with many people in my line of work. On a professional level, I feel that I have accomplished a lot because I have reached my dream to be a qualified teacher. This said, I would strongly recommend increasing and encouraging inclusive education, especially for the disabled. Disabled people need to be given special attention during the teaching and learning process and the appropriate mechanisms for their support and follow-up should be in place in every school.

OTHER  STORIES  

Age: 29 years

Years as teacher: 4

L iv ing in: Marromeu, Sofala

FRANCISCO ZUCA

I work at the Institute for Visually Impaired People in Beira and am also a part-time teacher of Moral and Civic Education for a 3rd grade class with 9 students. Having the possibility of studying at the ADPP Teacher Training College in Nhamatanda made me become a different man: a man respected in the family and in the community and a person who is socially and financially independent. I am now part of the productive world – not a burden to others. I feel that I have accomplished many things, achieved a high level of professionalism, and been rewarded by the results of my work. Of course, not everything is perfect. Among the major difficulties faced by disabled teachers in their day-to-day work is checking the presence of the students in class, writing down the summary of the class in the class book, and monitoring the attention of the students during the lessons. In my opinion, disabled teachers should teach classes from the 3rd grade up, and preferably subjects such as Portuguese or Moral and Civic Education. These students already know how to read and write which facilitates a lot the teacher’s work. I think we should also be expect the school community to respect the individual teacher, despite his disabilities, and to provide assistance whenever necessary so that he may perform his functions the best possible way. I would recommend that ADPP Teacher Training Colleges continue training disabled people because it is through education that disabled people gain their own lawful space in the labor market and are given the opportunity to offer their important contribution to society.

Age: 51 years

Years as teacher:

L iv ing in: Beira, Sofala

CASTIGO SEBASTIÃO JONE

My name is Castigo Sebastião Jones, and even though my first name in Portuguese means “punishment”, I don’t consider my condition as a punishment for anything. I was one year old when I fell sick with measles and conjunctivitis. I have been partly blind ever since. I am now 30 years old and have been a teacher for the last 4 years in the district of Caia, Sofala Province, where I teach Social Sciences for the 6th grades. I would also like to teach Portuguese, Moral and Civic Education and English to the grades 8-10 as they would be more appropriate for my visual condition: teaching Natural Sciences, for instance, can be problematic as it includes so many images that one should show and explain. I use various teaching methods in my classes to ensure that my pupils learn well despite of my condition. Among them is group work and field practice together with an active use of various didactic materials and tools. I believe that the School Board and the Teacher’s Council have a key role in maintaining harmony and good working relations between a disabled teacher and the rest of the school community: they should set an example of respect and mutual help. Not laughing at the difficulties a blind person; making sure that the children respect the teacher and do not sneak-out of the classroom; and – most importantly –, taking into consideration that a disabled teacher has certain limits to his or her performance and that the assignments should be designed according to the type of disability he or she has – these are all examples of the kind of respect I am talking about. For instance, one of the biggest difficulties I face in my work is the quarterly and bi-weekly planning process, since some of my colleagues still do not respect the limits of a visually impaired teacher. One day I received a visit from the Sofala Provincial Education Authorities in my classroom. I remember how the active participation of the children in my class left them speechless. They were surprised to see how well the children were learning from a disabled teacher. I must add that the school community has been active in facilitating my work whenever possible: the students respect the timetable and the other teachers help in producing teaching materials and give ideas when the transmission of teaching contents is harder. Being able to complete my teacher-training course has meant a lot to me. I am now economically independent and can support my family. I own my own house and am socially respected in my community. My good relations with those around me have even led me to be chosen to mediate conflicts in the community. Most importantly, however, I now have a profession I’m proud of and can contribute to building the future of my country. I therefore hope and wish that these projects of Inclusive Education continue and flourish so that more and more visually impaired people in Mozambique are able to benefit from a professional training, thereby becoming independent and productive members of their communities.

Age: 30 years

Years as teacher: 4

L iv ing in: Caia, Sofala

CARLOS JOAQUIM NOGUEIRA My name is Carlos Joaquim Nogueira, but everybody calls me Carlitos, a name I answer to since I got blind at the age of 5. Back then, living in Buzi District, Sofala Province, I was happy and innocent until one day I got sick with measles and a strong eye pain. The medicine I received was not applied correctly and finally left me completely blind. Life became very difficult. I felt discriminated and going to school and to study became really hard. In 2005, I was offered an opportunity to study at the ADPP Teacher Training College of Nhamatanda. I graduated the same year with success. I have built a career in teaching ever since. Today, 9 years later, I teach Portuguese, Social Sciences and Moral and Civic Education for the 6th and 7th grades at the 12 de Outubro Primary School in the village of Metuchira, Nhamatanda District. I’m proud of what I have achieved. I participate actively in the development of my community and, I believe, of the country in general. I am a bright teacher and I have developed good relations with the people around me, on both professional and social levels. Working as a teacher has enabled me to gain economic independence, to ensure a stable income and to acquire material goods and provide support for my family. I am single and devote my life to the children I teach. The biggest difficulty that I face in my teaching practice is the lack of manuals in Braille and other special equipment for blind people. Luckily, I have managed to establish a wonderful relationship with my colleagues and the whole school community: the children help me locate the classrooms, alert me about the schedules and write on the blackboard when needed. In addition, my colleagues help me in the quarterly and bi-weekly planning and in the choice of teaching materials for my classes. I must say that the School Board has been extremely helpful in this sense: it has been crucial in mobilizing the other teachers and the whole school community to help and support me. I think it is extremely important to continue supporting people with disabilities. The support is especially needed in the areas of inclusive education and professional training as well as in producing adequate material and the equipment disabled people need for living a fulfilling life.

Age: 37 years

Years as teacher: 9

L iv ing in: Nhamatanda, Sofala