| dc.description.abstract | Self-concept is very crucial in determining pupils' achievement. In special needs
education programmes, this is more crucial because children with special needs such
as visual impairment tend to be influenced by the learning environment in which they
are. Placements for children who are visually impaired have been done haphazardly
without any consideration of their self-concept thus leading to low achievement.
There are three programmes of placement namely, special school programme,
integrated programme and inclusive programme. However, prior to the placement, no
study is ever done to determine suitable placement criteria. The purpose of this study
was to evaluate programme placement for learners with visual impairment in relation
to self-concept and academic achievement in special primary schools in Kenya.
Specific objectives of the study were to: determine the relationship between selfconcept
and academic achievement for learners who are visually impaired; determine
which of the programmes most enhanced self-concept for learners who are visually
impaired; find out if learners with low vision had a higher self-concept than those who
are totally blind, find out if there was gender difference in self-concept and
achievement among learners who are visually impaired and to find out teachers'
attitude on programme placement. The Conceptual framework for this study was
based on Anderson's Evaluation Model. A survey and correlation research designs
were used in the study. The study was conducted in 10 public primary schools which
comprised: six special school programmes for learners who are visually impaired;
three integrated school programmes; and one inclusive project in Kenya. The
population of the study was 291 class eight pupils and 54 class eight teachers. A
stratified sampling was used to select schools incorporating integration, inclusive and
special programmes and saturated sampling was used to sample 262 class eight pupils
while purposive sampling was used to select 38 class eight teachers, focusing on those
who were teaching English, Kiswahili, Science and Social Studies only. Four
instruments were used for data collection, namely; pupils' questionnaire on academic
self-concept for learners who are visually impaired, pupils' academic achievement
test, teachers' inventory. The instruments were piloted at one of the special primary
schools (not part of the sample) to establish their validity and reliability. Data analysis
was done at p:s; 0.05. The t-test was used to measure level of significance between
self-concept and achievement and Pearson's r was used to measure the correlation
between self-concept and academic achievement. The data was analyzed using
procedures based on the analysis of variance structure for each programme separately.
Analysis of variance (ANOY A) was conducted to determine the interaction effect
within and between the programmes in order to eliminate the confounding variables;
academic self-concept, sex and visual impairment were the independent variables,
achievement being dependent variable. The study established that there was a
significant relationship between self-concept and achievement, respondents who
scored high in self-concept also scored high in achievement, pupils with low vision
scored higher in self-concept as compared to those who were totally blind, girls
performed better in self-concept as compared to boys, and pupils placed in Inclusive
programme had higher scores followed by Integrated programme and then special
schools programmes. The study recommended the expansion of more inclusive
programmes in Kenya to cater for more pupils and an enhancement of academic selfconcept
to boys who are visually impaired in order to improve their academic
performance. | en_US |
