In this qualitative study, three participants were observed and recorded while teaching in a variety of environments. The purpose of this study was to confirm the findings of the interviews and to learn more about these non-visual teaching skills and strategies. Using an observation checklist, the research team met on a weekly basis to view and code the recordings from January to April 2022. Member checks were completed by all participants via Zoom meetings. The participants were three males who were visually impaired employed at rehabilitation centers for individuals with low vision/blindness. Four themes emerged from the analysis of the observation data: auditory monitoring, tactile monitoring, instructor positioning, and Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT®). The results of this study demonstrate the connection between the current study and the previous three studies completed by the research team. It is evident that the participants engaged in different strategies to monitor safety and promote independent travel for their students. Non-visual skills were an important component for SDCT that all participants utilized. The findings of this study can be used by university faculty from orientation and mobility (O&M) personnel preparation programs as a resource when they have students with visual impairment in blindfold/simulation cane courses. This research also supported faculty to identify best teaching practices among all programs and to integrate these practices into their curricula to strengthen their programs. For success in life, teachers of students with visual impairment and O&M instructors need to promote self-advocacy.

Introduction: To better serve students with visual impairments who are enrolled in personnel preparation programs training orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists, faculty should be aware of effective teaching strategies, tools, and resources to use. In this context, it is vital that instructors in personnel preparation programs for O&M specialists to understand how to best serve students with visual impairments. Two prior studies have addressed this need. This study sought to establish what techniques and teaching strategies O&M instructors who are visually impaired use when teaching students O&M skills to ensure their safety. Methods: This study used a qualitative research design using a case study approach to explore the teaching strategies, nonvisual skills, and accommodations that O&M instructors who are visually impaired use when teaching O&M lessons to their students. Eight participants with visual impairments who are O&M instructors were interviewed for this study. Results: The themes that emerged from the interviews included structured discovery learning and philosophy, monitoring and teaching strategies, equipment and materials, and accommodations. These findings played a vital role when instructors with visual impairments provided O&M lessons to students who are visually impaired. Discussion: This research confirms and adds to the previous research regarding instructional strategies, equipment and materials, and accommodations utilized by O&M instructors who are visually impaired. Additionally, further information was provided concerning instructional strategies (e.g., structured discovery learning and philosophy, monitoring). Implications for Practitioners: The results reported in this study can serve as guidelines for O&M personnel preparation program faculty who are teaching students with visual impairments in their blindfold or simulation cane courses. This study can also be used as a reference for students with visual impairments to advocate for accommodations with their university's office of students with disabilities to be successful in an O&M personnel preparation program.

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In many developing countries, orientation and mobility (O&M) services and programs are inadequate. A survey of 296 visually impaired Nigerians was conducted in 2018 to assess availability of, and experiences with, O&M services and training. Three-fourths of those sampled were blind. O&M items were analyzed by vision status. Persons with partial sight were more likely than blind persons to use a cane without the assistance of a human guide and less likely to ask for help if lost and unaccompanied. However, they did not express more confidence in their ability to travel independently, suggesting a sense of stigmatization. Level of confidence was positively associated with the extent of training and degree of skill in both orientation and mobility, supporting the importance of training with sufficient intensity. Analysis revealed that many partially sighted individuals were substituting another device for a white cane, yet reporting either not wanting or needing a white cane, implying a perception of stigmatization. Among those owning white canes, blind persons reported more difficulty navigating independently, citing primarily physical impediments and adverse topographic conditions. Recommendations are made for local manufacture of white canes, improvements in physical infrastructure, and establishment of a national registry of all persons with disabilities.

Teacher shortages increase yearly while interest in the teaching profession seems to be at an all-time low. Policymakers are again seeing value in high school “grow your own” (GYO) teacher programs as a source of future teacher talent. Against the backdrop of career development models for teaching, we developed an instrument based on specific practices in the GYO literature and applied the instrument to review school district applications selected for statewide grant funding to evaluate the extent which proposed programs intended to enact such strategies. Applications reflected many of the recruitment, preparation and retention strategies found in the literature, but we also found three trends across the pool of applications that suggested GYO programs may miss their intended mark of increasing the number and diversity of teachers. First, application plans made limited use of current career models to guide recruiting efforts. Second, the application plans seemed unlikely to create diversity in the teacher talent pool. Third, plans for offering dual credit courses in high school gave little attention to aligning post-secondary academic pathways to undergraduate teacher certification. These results suggest that traditionally conceived pre-collegiate GYO programs need to be reimagined if they are going to be successful at mitigating teacher shortages.