Leveraging Blind Woodworkers’ Practices to Develop Inclusive Instruction

The goal of this study is to identify teaching strategies that can help visually impaired students to participate in design and design related education, and by extension, professional practice. The motivation for developing inclusion in STEAM classrooms and design studios is based on past literature demonstrating that diverse and empathetic groups of problem solvers are highly effective and that visually impaired students have had historically limited access to education and employment opportunities in general. This study suggests that, based on the for-us-by-us woodworking courses developed in blind communities, woodworking is a viable form of design and STEAM education for visually impaired students, and hence can serve as an example case study for understanding how we can implement more inclusive education. As findings, we present 10 teaching principles which instructors can use to make their woodshops accessibly to blind woodworking students and consider the likely benefits of woodworking on student life.

 

See website: http://www.blindwoodworking.club/ 

Link to MRP: http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2498/1/Forest_Eric_2019_MDes_INCD_MRP.pdf 

Creator: 
Advisor: 
Interior of the woodshop taken from just inside the front door.
Thursday, July 11, 2019 - 2:00pm