Room 1 - Entrance Hall (Section 1 of 1)
Overview of the rooms in this resource
There are five ‘content rooms’: the Curriculum Room, the Delivery Room, the M&I Policy and Service Room, the Education Policies Room, and the Resource Room. In order to demonstrate the rigour of the research process and to give recognition to the schools and services that participated in the research, examples of good practice are credited to the school or service source throughout this resource, unless they specifically requested otherwise or the notes contained sensitive information in the opinion of the research team. Relevant sections of interview notes are presented in boxes. An example of good practice, relating to the referral of children for an M&I assessment, is the following:
The M&I service uses a ‘transfer file’ that is constructed every year that lists children transferring to new schools who may require assessment. BIRMINGHAM
There are many people who are critical to the effective delivery of a mobility and independence service. Their contributions and involvement are referred to throughout the resource in the appropriate rooms / sections.
Professionals with training in the area of mobility and independence may have one of many different job titles, the most common perhaps being Mobility Officer and Rehabilitation Officer, which often reflects the nature of their training. The difficulty is that routes leading to this title are complex. There appear to be many different qualifications that allow a person to operate as a Mobility Officer or Rehabilitation Officer when working with children. This differs from other professions where there is one training path that must be followed in order to become such a professional. This complication obviously makes the research process more complex, but it also makes reporting difficult.
For this reason, the term Mobility and Independence Educator is used generically throughout the resource as a term to describe any professional who takes the lead role in teaching or advising upon mobility and independence issues. Which professional can take on this role will depend upon a number of factors – e.g. their qualifications and experience, the aspect of the mobility and independence curriculum being covered, and local staffing arrangements. In actual fact the research team recommends that the Mobility and Independence Educator should be, dependant upon context, a Rehabilitation Officer, Mobility Officer, or QTVI. This is discussed in the M&I policy and service room in more detail.
When professional specific terms, for example, QTVI, Rehabilitation Officer, Mobility Officer, and Teaching Assistant are used in the resource, we are referring specifically to these professionals.
Room summaries
The Curriculum room presents a broad framework for a ‘mobility and independence curriculum’. The concern of this room is defining the boundaries of mobility and independence (M&I) education. Central to this definition is a curriculum framework which seeks to address the ‘special needs’ of children with a vision impairment. A useful way of capturing these needs is by making a distinction between ‘early and foundation M&I’, including body and spatial awareness, and social and emotional development, and ‘advanced M&I’, including travel skills, and independent living skills. It also presents a national picture of the mobility and independence curriculum currently being delivered. Whilst this room is aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding the key mobility and independence skills required by children with visual impairment, it is particularly useful for those designing M&I programmes and those working directly with children.
The Delivery room describes the complex process of delivering the mobility and independence curriculum to children with a vision impairment in mainstream education using a delivery cycle consisting of six stages: referral, assessment, programme design, intervention, review and completion. It also describes areas which require further consideration when delivering the M&I curriculum, including circumstances peculiar to pre-school children, post-school provision, children with MDVI, and the cultural background of children. This room is aimed at those people who work either directly or indirectly with children who are visually impaired, including Mobility Officers, Rehabilitation Officers, Qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired (QTVI), class teachers, teaching assistants, and others who might be involved in the delivery of the M&I curriculum including other professionals from various agencies and parents and family of children with a vision impairment.
The M&I Policy and Service room considers some of the issues that need to be addressed when developing an M&I service for children who are educated in mainstream schools. In particular, it is important to consider which professionals should be involved in the delivery of the M&I curriculum, the skills and training they would require, and the agencies in which they might be employed, as well as considering some of the challenges faced within multi-agency provision. Consideration is then given to a number of important factors, including the audit and design of an M&I service, the development of a policy on M&I education, and funding issues. This room is aimed at those involved in developing a mobility and independence service for children, which might include: managers of sensory or visual impairment services in various agencies including education, social services and voluntary organisations; Mobility and Independence Educators, including Mobility Officers, Rehabilitation Officers, and qualified teachers of the vision Impaired; and others who might be involved in the delivery of the M&I curriculum including other professionals from various agencies and parents and family of children with a vision impairment.
The Education Policies room is aimed at professionals and others who are not familiar with the field of education or its policies, and focuses particularly on policies relating to special educational needs. The trend towards the education of children with a vision impairment in mainstream schools is described, along with commonly used terminology, such as ‘SEN’. It is intended as an introductory guide rather than an authoritative account. Links are provided to web sites and other resources where further information can be obtained if desired.
The Resource room brings together the resources that have been used and referenced throughout this online resource, and in the research project reports (Pavey, Douglas, McCall, McLinden and Arter, 2002a & 2002b). It includes examples of good practice from services and schools that took part in the research project, the recommendations made by us relating to the delivery of M&I education based upon the good practice that was identified, our 10 key recommendations, examples of checklists for carrying out assessments, and a list of the references used throughout the resource and the research reports.
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