Inclusion in Physical Education: Discover, Invent, Describe and Feel

Interviewer: [0:07] Hello Séan, I’m delighted to welcome you here to the ‘Institute of Education’, DCU or Dublin City University. We’re here to talk about the work that you do with young people with visual impairments teaching the physical education in mainstream school, which is across the road from the university here and it’s Rosmini Community College, Gracepark Road, Drumcondra.

So, Séan, I’d love to know a little bit about yourself and your career pathway.

Séan: [0:37] Well Susan, it’s lovely to be here first of all and thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’m a graduate of what was the only PE college in the country at the time, Thomond College of Education in Limerick and I’ve been a PE teacher now for thirty-five years plus and still enjoying it.

School Context:

Interviewer: [0:59] So, Séan, will you tell me a little about the school context and maybe the skill set that you’ve built up through your teaching career to teach young people and to include them with all children, particularly those that have visual impairments?

Séan: [1:14] Okay, well the school itself is…, has always been a very inclusive school. It originated from a primary school that dealt with visually impaired boys from all over the country and there was no, apart from a second…, what they call a “secondary top”, in those days. There was no secondary school for them to go to as such. So, the order which ran the school, the Rosminian order formed a community school, and it has been running now since the late seventies, early eighties and the model has been one where it’s inclusive. All students come to the school and they just happen to have at least ten per cent of students that will have a visual impairment or be actually blind. It has been a model that I thought has been way ahead of its time for many years and has been very successful.

In around 1999/2000, a school that was dealing exclusively with girls on the southside, ‘Merrion College’, they were closing down and there was nowhere for their secondary school girls to go to receive their education. So, our model was being extended from being an all-boys community school to being a co-educational community school where boys and girls went to school, and again, a large percentage were blind or visual impaired who operated throughout their secondary school days in quite a normal situation. “Inclusivity” being the ethos of the school.

In those days, primary school students that had a visual impairment would have to come to Dublin or some school, a specialist school like for example, St. Joseph’s school in…, that’s on our campus and that’s where they would do their primary education. Then they would come to us, and they’d be coming from all parts of the country with the progress in assistive technology in schools, for example, brail note, talking programmes on computers, daisy programmes etc.

Primary school students were able to be open educated in their local primary school and that’s a good thing. Therefore, teachers in those schools are going to come across those students and they’re going to have to change their teaching methods in relation to including those students as they go through their education.

Learning to teach visually impaired young people:

Interviewer: [3:48] And one more point Séan before we move on, you were really thrown in at the deep end when you went to Rosmini for your skill set. You didn’t go with the skill set to teach them?

Séan: [4:00] No. Nobody with the skill set when they arrived in our school, nobody had the skill set and certainly in the college that I went to at the time the emphasis was not so much on dealing with special needs in the classroom, especially in the PE. There would have been a small experience of it but not a very in-depth approach to it. I had to discover, I had to speak to my colleagues that were already in the school. I had to learn from…, we didn’t have, we couldn’t google the answer. We had to learn from each other, we had to invent, we had to adapt, and we found that in actual fact what we were doing in a formal basis was actually ‘The Tree Model’ in relation to dealing with visual impairment and other special educational needs in our physical education class.

The TREE Model:

Interviewer: [4:57] And, ‘The TREE Model, just expand a little bit on that because we’re going to see it now in reality in among the TREE stands for?

Séan: [5:03] The TREE stands for; T is for teaching methods. My teaching methods although I had a certain number of teaching methods from my training in college, those methods had to be adapted, those methods had to change. I was dealing with a lot of students that were depending on, they were auditory learners, right. Therefore, my instructions had to be particularly descriptive in relation to, if I wanted a child, for example, do a stretch or I actually had to give detailed instructions as to where to place your left foot, where to place your right foot. If you were for example, standing to do…, just to stand with your feet apart, I’d have to say, stand shoulder width apart and when you get to shoulder width apart, I’d like you to extend it a little further and that’s when I had them in the position that they needed then to do the follow-on exercise or whatever.

I had to describe skills; you have to break down the skill. For example, if it was a ‘catch’, that I would go up close to the student first of all, tell them what I was going to do. I may actually be somewhat tactile in my approach where I would have to adjust body position of the student and that’s something that you think you’d be a bit wary of, but it’s actually something that you have to do and it’s a necessary method of teaching when you’re dealing with a blind or visually impaired student in your class.

I’d have to adjust, and I was very verbal, and I had to think about very carefully of what I was going to say. Then you just say it and after a while it’s just second nature. You’re describing it, for example, I’d always have to make sure to name the student to make sure that I had their attention and that it was particularly and not just for the other students in the class to name the student that I was actually talking to them. I’d have to position them in a location where they could see me, not at the back of the class that they could hear my instructions clearly.

They would have some vision and therefore there would be some aspect of their learning that would be visual, but also, I had to give cognisant to the fact that they’re aesthetic learners, tactile, touch and feel is very important for them. Some of the equipment that I would have to use would have to be adjusted also.

Which takes me onto ‘E’ in the ‘TREE’ model. Sorry, the ‘R’ is for the rules. Never ever let a rule stand in the way of a student participating in your class. If a student isn’t participating because of a certain rule, change the rule, right. Certainly, with older children in secondary school, perhaps fourth, fifth and sixth class they would understand the change in the rules. Maybe younger children mightn’t understand the change in the rules, and you know that you’re changing the rules so that everybody can take part.

To come onto ‘E’ in the ‘TREE’ model. E for ‘equipment’. Equipment has to be adapted. You don’t have to buy specialist equipment although there are some very useful specialists’ equipment which you’ll see later. Maybe the equipment you could give cognisant to the fact it could be light, coloured equipment, it could be white, yellow or orange, something that’s in contrast to the surroundings, maybe the colour of the wall. For example, if it’s white walls in the small hall that you’re using or whatever that you would maybe use a black ball, okay. Black on white is a very very useful colour for contrast for a visual impaired student.

Adapted equipment maybe if you’re going to do some catching, have the equipment and make it bigger, use a bigger ball, use a softer ball, use a non-sting ball, a ball that’s not doing to hurt them if they do get a bang. Look, these students are going to get the odd bang as all students are and I mean that’s perfectly okay as long as you’re trying to operate in a safe environment. A lot of these students would have been wrapped up in cotton wool as many of us as parents would be inclined to do when they were… They just don’t want the child to get hurt and their whole range of movement has been stifled in some way and we want to try and expand that.
So, that’s where we’re changing the equipment, we’re changing the environment. Use textured balls and for some of your equipment you can use bell attachments and we’ll show you some of them later.

The auditory signal, the auditory cue is very important to the visually impaired student, for some more than others obviously. It’s very important to keep that in mind when you’re using equipment.

In relation to the environment, the lighting in the hall is particularly important. Some students like white light, some students like a dimmer light and I would always experiment, if I was playing, for example, a racket sport where I’d experiment with the equipment, but I’d also experiment with the lighting, maybe not all the lights need to be on, maybe all the lights need to be on.
When I’m outside for example, sunlight is something I’ve to keep in mind at all times. I’ve to think of the environment in so far as, for example, if I had a student with ‘albinism’, they may be photo phobic where the actual sunlight actually hurts their eyes. That student would need to be maybe wearing some sun visor or sunglasses, maybe use a baseball hat, maybe when they’re playing on a team, they’d have to play with their back to the sun rather than playing into the sun. Simple little things like that, that I’ve discovered over the years and that discovery is made from interacting with the student asking them what their needs are, and they have pointed me in the right direction on so many occasions in relation to the environment.

For an environment of a hall, it has to be a safe zone, it has to be uncluttered, right. No, we can’t…, you can presume that you’ve got maybe a post-up for badminton or something for the rest of the students, you’ve got to explain to the students that there’s a few more items of equipment here today than were here last week. Before they ever start, they’d want to be shown the hall, given a mobility lesson in relation to the hall as part of their school, as part of their learning of as they move around the classroom and the school grounds.

This is all building up the basic skills that the student needs to have to participate fully in the school not just the PE class, that mobility education and where things are, where the mats are stored in the hall and they need to have a mental picture of the place of which they’re going to be working.

A point to bear in mind when we’re doing our planning for the physical education with the visually impaired person is you need to gather as much information as you can. You need to speak to the parents, the previous teacher, your colleagues in the school and you need to speak to, maybe professionals that have been involved in the past or look at their reports and their recommendations. Also, and most importantly you need to speak to the child themselves.
Find out for example, about their vision. Now, you do this in a discreet fashion, maybe not in front of the rest of the class where you actually say, bring them to the hall at some stage and say, ‘tell me now, what you can see here?’. ‘You can see as far as this first mat; can you see any further than that?’ Maybe try some small kills with a ball then, ‘how far away is that ball now?’ ‘Can you see that ball in front of you?’ You get a sense of where their level of vision is, okay.

Also, you need to familiarise yourself with their eye conditions and different eye conditions, there’s different types of vision that they’re experiencing, and you need to build a sense of that.

In relation to, how far they can see and the particular level of vision, you don’t just do that once, perhaps that has to be done on the following year as well or throughout the year because some conditions unfortunately lead to a deterioration and you need to keep up to date with where the student is in relation to how far they can see, what they can see.

Key Supports: The Special Needs Assistant and Peers:

Interviewer: [13:38] And in relation to their peers then, how do you manage them Séan?

Séan: [13:44] Okay, in terms of environment also, you have to create an environment in your classroom with the group that you’re dealing with. One of inclusivity where everyone feels a part of it and everyone feels they’ve something to offer to make everybody feel a part of it and it’s very important for the visually impaired and blind student and any special needs student to feel a part of their classroom. So, the atmosphere that you are creating as a teacher where everybody included is very very important.

In relation to, using their fellow students in the classroom to help them, they’re a great resource as is the SNA. The arrival of the SNA into the education system for me has been a godsend. It has been an enormous help to me and there’s been some marvellous SNA’s who’ve come to me with ideas. Also, then to think about the students in the classroom, they’re of great assistance. You can teach them how to be, for example, a sighted guide. There are some very simple techniques that can be shown to students in relation to guiding a student with a visual impairment, but it’s important that all the students get to help out. You don’t want to overexpose certain students just because they’re nice and friendly with them because you know they get… that’s exhausting on the same students all the time. I think you have to spread those tasks out evenly around the classroom which develops empathy amongst the whole group. For the student themselves, they feel part of it, they feel part of their school community, their little class group and I think this is very important.

In relation to, you know, young teachers starting out, I mean you’re given a great education here in the institute right, but your true learning starts when you start your career and your whole career is a learning curve. Sometimes that curve is never ending, and you are always, and I find as a teacher myself, I’ve had to re-invent myself over the years. Sometimes the students wouldn’t always remember what I have taught them, but they remember me, and they remember the atmosphere hopefully that I’ve created in the class that makes it an inclusive class that makes them feel a part of their community. It makes them feel more resilient, more confident, have greater self-esteem and participate in physical activity as a lifelong project.

Interviewer: [16:23] So, what we’re going to do now next is we’re going to take a tour of the sports hall here. We have the hall, it’s a little bit cluttered but that’s for the purpose of the interview. We’ve the hall divided up into various strands that you may be teaching within your program and we’re going to look at the tool kit that you have that teachers can observe, skills and equipment that they can use to help them in their teaching of PE.

Sean Gallagher applying the TREE Model to teaching physical education.

Séan: [16:55] Just before I begin in relation to all the strands of physical education, I think that a visually impaired student may come to you with a certain amount of experience and physical activity, or they may come to you with limited experience of physical activity. I think therefore it’s good to establish whether they can jump or they can run. In areas like gymnastics, you’ve opportunities to teach them how to leap, to jump, to run, to roll. Those are very very important activities from a safety point of view. They’re going to stumble in life, they’re going to trip up, they’re going to fall, so, if they’re getting experience of how to do it properly maybe to roll, jump, take the weight on their feet, run in a correct fashion. This is very important movement activity for all aspects of their life, not just games, not just outdoor education but for life in general.

Interviewer: [17:54] So, it’s really important that the primary school teacher builds these foundations with all their children

Séan: Absolutely!

Interviewer: and their fundamental movement skills to allow other teachers to build on those skills.

Séan: [18:06] Yes, exactly! In relation to using a ‘sighted guide’, it’s very important that the student is not pulled and dragged anywhere but the student is actually in control. So, Susan, if you’re the blind student now and I’m going to be your sighted guide just for a moment. So, if I come to your side, I’m going to offer you my right elbow, okay, and I’ll walk with you and we’ll just walk and that’s how I guide. I’m not the person and I’m going to put my hand on your elbow. I’m not the person holding you, you’re the person holding me. Okay, so you’re the person that’s in control.

Teaching equipment strategies and the environment for physical, cognitive and affective learning through games play.

Interviewer: [18:48] Okay, let’s have a look at the games tool kit Sean.

Séan: [18:50] I spoke earlier about some specialist equipment that you can get for the visionally impaired child in your class and this is probably the most common one that people would be aware of ‘a bell ball’, lovely tactile, there’s holes for holding it but the noise is particular and as I said, the audio cue is very very important for a visually impaired child in terms of throwing, catching and orientation in the hall, where the ball is in relation to where they are.

Interviewer: [19:23] So, I’m putting on a blindfold here to replicate someone with a visual impairment.

Séan: [19:28] Just do a simple catching exercise to start. We’d hold your hand out as if what we’d call the breadbasket and you’re catching it into the breadbasket, you’re using your hands and you’re pulling the ball towards your body to ensure that you’ve caught it.

Interviewer: Okay.

Séan: Okay, I’m going to go real close and I’m going to let you explore the ball first, okay. Okay, now, I’m going to go three, two, one and I’m going to throw it to you then so you can expect it.

Interviewer: Okay.

Séan: Three, two, one. Well caught and back to me. Three, two, one (Sean throws ball to Susan) and now hold it for a second. I’m going to give you a little audio cue now as to where I want you to throw that ball. (Sean clicking fingers) (Susan throw’s ball back to Sean). That’s it.
Now, three, two, one (Sean throws the ball to Susan). Now, I’m going to give you another audio cue. (Sean clicking his fingers for Susan to throw the ball back) It’s coming back to you now, three, two, one. (Sean throws the ball to Susan)

Séan: [20:29] For example, a ball is useful I said increase the size of the equipment, if you think of the TREE model increase the size of the equipment and this one has bells in it, okay. Maybe if I try just to bounce with this one and I’ll bounce into you, again that auditory cue. The noise is very very essential and it’s very important to them. (Sean and Susan throwing the bell ball back and forth to each other)

[21:00] If you go back to the TREE model again when you’re dealing with equipment, equipment is important when it’s adapted that it can be slowed down. This could be a volleyball; this could be just for throwing and catching. The fact that it moves at a slower pace through the air, it’s also more manageable for any SEN student. That it moves at a slower pace than the ball or whatever and gives them that feeling of what it’s like to catch it. We’ll just catch it overhead okay or it’s just if you’re playing ‘keep up’, right, there may be a certain amount of residual vision where the child can actually see this in the air and the fact that it’s moving slowly would be a great…, it’s great for their inclusion.

[21:54] What you have here also you can use for catching because again the speed of the item you want to catch is an issue in some cases, so if we throw the scarf it moves really slowly. (Séan demonstrates this on video) It gives an opportunity for success. Again, it might be more difficult to tie a bell onto that one, you know but just from a point of view, it’s something that’s moving more slowly and the brighter the colour the better or the contrasting colour against the floor or the wall.

[22:29] Now, for smaller children, these types of things are great for throwing and catching, you’ve got different surfaces to catch it, it’s easy to catch, just grab onto a piece of it. Then a football sock, again, it’s a bigger target to catch right but it can be…, where they’re focused on one small ball like that, you change it around and put the ball in the sock or something like that. Again, simple adaptive equipment and you throw the sock and they’ve got something more to catch, alright?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Séan: [23:06] Again, a small ball, a smaller version which can be used for unihoc or just rounders okay and or a form of goal ball right you can use a small ball. This has great and it’s not just a football, it can be a basketball, it can be a goal ball. A ball like this for example can be…, that can be a unihoc ball, right okay? It’s not just a gym ball, it’s a unihoc ball, it can be a throw and catch for throw and catch games, there’s many many uses for the same ball.

[23:50] In relation to doing the skills of a game, where perhaps they may not be taking part in a game and there’s no problem at all bringing it to a level where they can experience some of this. For example, shooting skills. Now, again, the auditory cue can be a knock on the basket to throw yet Susan, you can use a stick. (Séan tapping stick off post for auditory cue) If they happen to have a cane that’s the auditory cue to where they’re throwing to. Now, in primary schools the nets will be much lower right, so this is even more accessible. So, I’m going to just use the hockey stick as a cue, and I have to protect the student now from one thing and that’s the rebound okay. I have to be aware, maybe I might put a classmate on one side or the other just to protect from the rebound, okay. (Séan taps the stick on the basketball ring to demonstrate auditory cue for Susan to throw the ball in the video). That’s good, nearly there.

Now, if we were having a little game amongst a group of students I would say, I’d be giving a point for hitting the ring and I’d give another point for hitting the back board. Right, so there’s a guarantee of some sort of success. (Séan taps the backboard with the stick to demonstrate auditory cue for Susan to throw the ball). Now, you’d give a bit of feedback, a little bit of feedback to say, I just want you to bend your knees a little bit more when you’re throwing it and I want you to throw it a little bit higher. The angle of it, now I may have to come in and I’m going to get you to hold the ball like that. Now, I’m going to hold your arms in such a way that I’m going to show you what the arm movement is going to be. So, it’s going to come up like this (Séan demonstrates this with Susan’s arms) and that’s the angle that I want you to release the ball at with your two hands. Practice that without letting go, that’s it.

Again, you have to touch certain parts of the arms or the body to try and get across the actual body shape that you require doing a particular skill. So, let’s try that again without letting go of the ball. Up to me here, (Séan clicking fingers for direction he would like the ball to move towards) you’re pushing it towards me, that’s it. Now you can also attach a bell to the basket just to add that little bit of an auditory cue and it’s a sense of success when the bell is struck. (Séan taps the board again as an auditory cue for Susan to throw the ball and the bell rings as an auditory cue once Susan throws the ball through the hoop).

[26:17] Another ball that you can use is a specialist ball and a foot so ball okay, quite hard again so you can obstruct the students so keep it on the floor right, keep it on the floor and if you just put the blindfold on again for this. So, with this foot so ball you keep it on the floor, again, it’s quite noisy and you would instruct the class as well and difficult to do when you’re teaching skills. You may not be able to play the actual game as a visually impaired student but it’s very important that you learn the skills. For example, a passing skill (Séan demonstrates) and then back to me. It makes plenty of noise, it’s great, it’s a bit hard that ball so just be aware that they’re not going to hurt themselves with it. The older children would certainly intend to kick that ball a bit harder and you just want to give them a good experience. Again, maybe they’re not going to play the actual sport or be involved in the match, but they’ve got a sense of the skills involved, for a lot of students that’s what they want.

[27:24] Okay, so this is a regular dog lead, right. Buy a lead for the purpose of this or it’s called ‘kick master’ right. This is based on ‘kick master’ where a person can play this on their own rather than running around and looking for the ball, that they can pull a ball back in and they get a sense or practising or practice their kicking and they can pull it back in and it feeds back into the lead (Séan kicks the ball and pulls the ball back with lead to demonstrate) and back in, okay.

[27:59] Let’s say you don’t have a bell ball, a specialist bell ball. These they are quite expensive right but they’re worth getting but the older children can kick them quite hard, and they could get damaged, you could be finding yourself without a bell ball. So, just take a ball and some crinkly plastic right, wrap it up with a bit of tape (Séan then passes the ball to Susan to demonstrate the noise) and there’s an auditory signal there by doing something very simple with the equipment.

[28:44] This is just a little item that I came across, it’s from… It’s a buzzer that you’d use for a quiz right and you can record anything you want on this, but they can be your auditory signal for a little bit of a change in the hall as well. It’s just a buzzer that you place on the table. (Séan demonstrates buzzer) Or it can be different noises again and they’re very useful little items you can buy, beep signals that you can place on a basketball ring. You can get a beep signal to place behind a rounders base where they could run to that base, but if you don’t have that you’d use perhaps you could use a partner where they’re clapping, for example, (Séan claps) and they are running to the auditory cue.

[29:46] Just in relation to the environment, changes that you need to make in the environment particularly for safety. If you need to just mark off something clearly maybe you could have this (Séan holds up red and white tape) on the wall for example just to say that the wall is getting close now. They may be able to pick up these colours or an associated colour, you could put it on the wall or sections of the wall. Another thing that I use in games is called a ‘safe zone’. A safe zone is where the only person in that zone in a game would be the visually impaired person and their partner, their sighted guide whoever that be, classmate, SNA, whoever. It would be a zone on the side of the pitch where only they are allowed to use and somebody can step into that zone and give them the ball, they can move along the zone safely and they can be based on auditory cues from their classmates, they can pass the ball to somebody else then having moved up the pitch with it. That’s a safe zone.

[30:48] You don’t always have to use a basketball and a basketball ring and the same technique maybe for smaller children this could be just a much fun involved in throwing where they’re using this and you can attach again, attach the bell to net, right so very simple again but they feel a part of the game and they get that sense of success and just when you hear the bell there’s a little bit more to it and it gives them a sense of achievement.

[31:21] In relation to games you come across in racket sports and you think that they’re a little bit less accessible where in actual fact there’s a lot of skills that can be taught to the visually impaired person even though they would have limited vision and they can use racket and bats or bat substitutes in some way. For example, if you have badminton, perhaps they may not be able to use regular size racket, but they may have more success with a racket with a small neck on it, that’s the same for every student in the class, you know, it’s quite a difficult skill badminton and the smaller neck can be very beneficial. Also, there would be nothing wrong with using a tennis racket instead of the badminton racket, bigger head, more opportunities for success and again you can get those tennis rackets with a short neck on them also.

[32:18] Okay, in relation to the badminton shuttle, it’s quite small but it doesn’t move as fast as a tennis ball therefore it might be accessible for a lot of students especially if you change the colour. A fluorescent one can be of great benefit. Again, if you want to slow it down further and give them more opportunities you can use a balloon, right. Many of our students get great fun out of using balloons for badminton and then you can change the size of the balloon as they become more proficient. Then again, you’ve got this giant shuffle which is of great use, it’s colourful and it’s a big target right and if you drop it it works very well actually with a tennis racket, right. Again, we have to be careful safety wise using these items but again the adaptable equipment is there, and it should be used to try and get that. You may not end up playing the game but you’re certainly experiencing the skills of the game.

[33:26] For other striking games like rounders, the base here is invaluable. They’re not going to be striking an airborne ball okay. Some of them may wish to do so, right, but this is particularly useful, again use a tennis racket you don’t have to use the rounders bat and it’s there and a guaranteed success right. There’s a noise on that ball and it’s a very useful ball. It’s actually an indoor blind tennis ball, a very noisy ball and again it gives them a sense of how far they’re going to hit it, right. This one here you can listen to it. (Séan strikes the ball so Susan can hear the noise once hit). It’s a very very useful item. These things here are invaluable, if you don’t have these and you want to include them also, you can replace the ball with a football.

Right, you can replace the small ball with a football, and they can have just as much success and give them a choice, they can use a small ball, or they can use a football. They might like to kick it out of their hands or kick it from the ground. So, what happens then when they want to run to a base. Again, you use your auditory cue and someone calling them from the base, right. The other students have to be wary and careful when their visually impaired classmate is running. We don’t want any collisions, so we want to be careful about that, but again, it’s possible for them to run with a sighted guide or even without a sighted guide when they’re confident enough to do so.

[35:01] Just in relation to racket sports and striking games, I always ask the bowler to wear safety goggles. In fact, the blind and visually impaired student that is participating in your class may need to be protected from any further eye injuries. So, it’s something to be considered in your classes. Some of them have sport goggles anyway and they’ve no problem wearing them but it’s just something to be aware of. Bowlers in general, I think they should be wearing a set of protective goggles.

[35:41] Again, to ensure a little bit of success in racket sports and develop that bit of confidence and to give plenty of opportunities for practising a skill. A shuttle hanging on a string suspended above okay, that can also be replaced with a ball and you can practise the various forehand shots and backhand shots using this. For example, if I do badminton backhand (Séan demonstrates) or if I come over to the other side that they get a sense of what the forehand is about (Séan demonstrates)and you’d go through everything in relation to grip and where they line up their body, side to side, shoulder to the target, it does get a bit tangled up every now and again but the students learn to cope with that. Now, I’m going to adjust the height, so if I adjust the height of it, I can hold it there, drop it down a bit. Now, I can practice an overhead shot, okay now I can have that on a longer string so it takes a while to come back, and the students can get a sense of timing, setting themselves up for an overhead shot, that can be done by and that’s not just done for the visually impaired student, that can be practiced by any student in the class. Again, you can replace it with a ball, you can adjust the size of the ball, adjust the size of the racket that you’re using. Again, more opportunities for success and a sense for that particular skill of where it fits into that particular racket sport or ball sport.

Providing experiences and success in an athletics environment:

Séan: [37:26] The athletics strand is possibly the most accessible strand amongst all the primary school activities and secondary school activities. It’s less chaotic for want of a better word than the games module. There’s more moving around in that, there’s less moving around in this, they’re running in straight lines, they’re throwing, they’re jumping.
If we take the throwing events first of all, let’s just take the javelin and these are the types of javelin you’d be using but what I’m going to do is I’m going to attach a bell again to the back of it. These bells can be bought in fishing tackle shops and they can be clipped on and they’re used by the fisherman as a little alarm to tell him when there’s something on the line. So, I can clip it on or I can tape it on also to ensure that it stays on for the entire class and when I’m going to throw it, again, it’s an auditory cue, I would line the student up in showing them the correct body shape that I want them to do for the javelin and I get them into the correct body shape and I get them to throw it and they get a sense of how far they’re throwing it.

[38:37] Instead of the training javelin you can use a nerf ball for a bit of variety, the whole class will love this. Again, it has something for the visually impaired student because if it’s thrown correctly it makes a whistling noise and that’s a lovely thing and again, they can get a sense of how far they’re actually throwing it. (Séan demonstrates how to throw it).

[39:01] Just something to supplement a throwing event and something I developed just from the point of view of getting for example, an action in the javelin, okay. Now, they’d be a lot smaller than me in the class, right. So, you could just hold it overhead and they’re throwing it along this line and it just gives them that extra sensation of something moving through the air and reaching its target at the end. (Séan demonstrates this).

[39:33] Throwing events very accessible, you could use an indoor soft shotput like this and right again giving them the correct throwing action or maybe you might want to use one of your bell balls again, they can transfer into any of the strands and again practicing the proper body shape and they get a sense of how far it’s gone. (Séan demonstrates how to throw the bell ball). There’s lots of things you can throw, beanbags, textured items and they are very very important to the visually impaired child.

[40:06] A long jump, a standing long jump in particular making a one step and a jump. Jumping from two feet to two feet descriptive terminology like that. Explaining how you want the student to land. You want them to land with their feet touching the ground and bending their knees at the same time absorbing the impact. This is not just for jumping but it can be for a use of any of the other games for their fundamental movement skill of jumping, for distance and jumping for height. Very important but the skill is very transferrable into other things.

[40:41] In relation to the running aspects of athletics and again lots of possibilities. You can run as we did before, if you take my elbow right and we can just run up the track, we’re running in a straight line, okay. (Séan demonstrates with Susan how to run) Ready, three, two, one, go. Three, two, one, stop. The student may also wish to use a little guide rope like this okay where each person holds one end of the guide rope and keep a tension on it as we’re running through. (Séan demonstrates) Three, two, one and stop.
Just, on a safety point of view as you’re coming to the end of the run, you’d signify that you’re actually coming to the finish line. I would say, three, two, one and they know they’re approaching a stop.

[41:35] Just for some running practice in the hall or it could be outside in the yard, you could run a cable tied to an extension on both sides and you’d have a safety ribbon on one side of the cable and a safety ribbon on the other side of the cable indicating starting and finishing points and a visually impaired student can run up and down along the cable quite safely and when they get to the safety ribbon on one side they know to turn and they can do a shuttle run as they would in other parts of the class. (Susan demonstrates) Stop that’s it and turn and slow down and go back again. Three, two, one and turn, three, two, one and turn or a classmate could also help out by saying, three, two, one, turn.

[42:38] Again, this is to give a sense of what the hurdles is and we’re going to step up to the first hurdle now and a little bit more. Now, three, two, one, step. One, step and that’s it.

Providing further positive experiences and success in the outdoor and adventure environment:

Séan: [43:02] Well, there’s a lot of cooperation and cooperative activities involved in outdoor and adventure and it’s ideal again for inclusion of everybody in the class. For example, ‘the spiders web’, which you all know what it’s about lining up the team on one side and getting the entire team through each section and not allowed to use a section maybe more than twice and if they go through there is an alarm that goes off if they touch any of the sections. Alright, so, it’s just that bit more, it’s inclusive, it’s accessible, it’s just one example.

So, the team challenges of those cooperative games are very accessible to all students with SEN in the classroom. Outdoor education and adventure, they may appeal to some of the students who might not be into games and they can achieve a little bit more success and become more physically active because of it. Orienteering is a particularly inclusive sport, again, using a sighted guide with you and then following the controls. Perhaps as a control instead of a stapler to mark their orienteering role card, there might be a question in brail relating to some other aspect of the class or something else the teacher has done with them. It could be in the form of a quiz based on some topic that they’ve done recently and there could be perhaps a brail question that would include the person that’s using brail in the classroom.

Interviewer: [44:32] And Séan, in relation to photo orienteering what would be your advice, you know, when children are working in pairs with the child who has visual impairment?

Séan: [44:40] Well one of the big reasons for including it as part of the course is for the social skills that it develops. So, as long as they’re with their peer group, as long as they’re with their classmates perhaps you could make an additional perhaps at the location for the photo to make sure they’re at the right place. You could have a little piece of brail stuck on a wall or a sign or something signifying that they’re actually in the right place and come back maybe with the message that’s on the piece of brail.

Planning gymnastics experiences and teaching strategies in the gymnastics environment:

Interviewer: [45:06] So, Séan in relation to gymnastics I’d say you have a couple of points you can share with us in relation to safety and the concepts that you’re teaching the children.

Séan: [45:16] Well in gymnastics you’re teaching them all about their body, movement and what their body can do, twisting, turning, curling etc. You’re teaching them how to jump, land, roll. These are all very very important life skills for a visually impaired child. They’re going to stumble in their lives, they’re going to trip and to be able to cope with it through the skills which they’ve learned, and the medium of gymnastics would be excellent.

Balance is a particular issue for the visually impaired child. So, anything that’s going to assist them with their balance is going to be of huge benefit to them, not only in the gymnastics class but beyond.

Interviewer: [45:56] I know with our student teachers, we teach them you know a lot about teaching young children to balance on large body parts, small body parts, two body parts, three body parts, four body parts. So, it’s really important that primary school teachers build up those balancing skills and concepts and understandings with all children.

Séan: [46:17] Absolutely, and that’s accessible to the visually impaired child in the class with probably a little bit more thought and planning you know, that you need to do. For example, if you’re doing assisted balancing with their partner, they feel part of their class, they feel part of the activity. Assisted balance with two and three people, they’re all very valuable experiences for them. I also use an artist mannequin to help out to explain body shape in a particular activity. If they’re leaping through the air, you can explain by having a body shape like that and get them to explore the mannequin to explore the body shape that you want.

If you for example, wish to do a ‘pencil roll’, right, where they make their body as long as possible. Again, you’d give a lot of descriptive terminologies to take exactly what you want but if you want actually to show them what shape you want them to do as they’re doing their pencil roll, you can actually use that particular mannequin there to show them exactly the body shape that you want during the particular exercise. That can be adapted to running movement. It can be adapted to, for example, a ‘dish roll’ into a V sit. You can visually use that just to help you enhance your teaching methods in relation to gymnastics.

Again, in relation to if they’re doing a little sequence that you know, that they’re going in a certain direction and that they have an auditory cue that somebody could stand on one end of the mat and again clap in the direction that they need to travel to be in a safe place.
Or perhaps you might decide to give them a second mat, the more mats you give them the better, so that they will have, know exactly where their boundaries are, the edge of the mat is their boundary. For them to be working in a smaller space sometimes is very good as well, they feel secure in that small space.

Working together dancing:

Interviewer: [48:34] So, now we’re moving onto ‘dance’ and how we can manage to teach dance to children with visual impairments and I know in partner dances and even just getting the sensation of movement and the body parts holding even a little stick or a hoop or a scarf with your partner and your partner can lead and their pair or their partner will follow, but Séan what other strategies have you built up?

Séan: [49:04] Well I think sometimes a lot of the folk dances lend themselves to inclusion for everybody in the class. The ‘German Clap Dance’ for example. Some of the set dances are particularly accessible. Now there is like that you’re going to have to work with the partner in the…
Sometimes partner work the partner physically guiding through body positions, there’s more success than actually talking them through it, so your partner is actually guiding you through it. For example, if you’re doing something like a little bit of Zumba, exercise to music, any movement to music, those actions can be taught and memorized by the students in the class, and it can work quite successfully.

Don’t be frustrated if you feel like you’re progressing very slowly. Sometimes a little bit of progress is all you need and all the student needs. So, you’re not going to work at the same pace as maybe the other students in the class but don’t be frustrated by that for any of the strands.

Primary School Sports Initiative Resource (Fifth and Sixth Class Lesson 1)

Interviewer: [50:07] Great, and as a resource we recommend for students which is online and there’s a lovely dice dance in it and you’ve some important advice in relation to why the dice dance is a nice dance.

Séan: [50:17] The dice dance is particularly important because first of all the dice itself blends itself to be used by a visually impaired person because it’s tactile, they can tell which side of the dice it’s landed on and again it’s that inclusiveness of being part of the class which is also important to develop their confidence, their self-esteem and just have them to have a more rich experience.

Conclusion:

Interviewer: [50:42] So, Séan this has been a wonderful morning spent talking to you, listening to you, with you sharing all the strategies which you have developed and learned over the years that will be invaluable to future teachers and for teachers who are out there practicing teaching PE and may be struggling with inclusion, because I think it can be broadened out even beyond children with visual impairments.

Séan: [51:10] Absolutely! Yes. A lot of the methods, they’re generic methods that covers the whole spectrum, but it’s been my pleasure to be here to impart some of my experience and it’s something that I’ve gathered from other teachers as well, colleagues that I’ve worked with and I think the main message is not to be afraid of it, to embrace it. Sometimes things mightn’t go so well but try it out, evaluate it, make the changes and go at it again.