Abstract:

Scientific literature highlights a correlation between teachers' perceptions of disability and their attitudes towards students with disabilities, which impacts the effectiveness of their teaching actions. Therefore, teachers can create an educational environment able to promote and disseminate the culture of inclusion, as well as to develop teaching methodologies and tools to implement teaching practices that support equal opportunities and existential pluralities at school. Understood as a way of living and of relating to others, inclusion requires a cultural transformation process that involves a positive attitude towards diversity. Despite the frequent coexistence of different cultures in modern society, it is worth mentioning that what is different from us can still be perceived as a disturbing element, instilling fear and anxiety due to deviating significantly from the norms instilled within our socio-cultural context. However, a plethora of studies have demonstrated that direct contact with diversity can have a positive impact on the prejudice that is commonly associated with it.

Stemming from these reflections, the paper aims to present the results of an exploratory study carried out on a sample of future teachers with the purpose of testing whether the experience of coming into contact with visual impairment influences their perception of it, leading to a decrease in fear and a sense of inadequacy when dealing with it. The sample is composed of a group of students enrolled at the University of Salerno (Italy) and attending a course on Special Education. The research protocol included the administration of a questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into two parts: the first section collects demographic data aiming at providing a detailed description of the sample and referring about the existence of a contact experience with visual impairment, whereas the second section comprises four open questions on future teachers’ perceptions of visual disability. The aim is to explore the representations and the perceptions of the sample in relation to visual disability and to find if there is a correlation between the future teachers’ perceptions and the presence of a direct experience with it, that is, if the presence of a direct experience with visual impairment has a positive impact on the future teachers’ personal representation of it.

Keywords:

Visual disability, inclusive education, contact hypothesis, teachers’ attitudes.