The role of the QTVI (1)

You may be aware from your experiences to date that children and young people with vision impairment constitute a heterogeneous group within which there is a wide spectrum of need and ability. The move towards greater inclusive practice in recent years has seen significant changes in curriculum design and delivery for these children and young people. The majority of children who have vision impairment but no additional disabilities will be educated in mainstream settings where they will participate in most subject areas alongside their sighted peers. Individual teaching activities will normally be limited to particular curriculum areas that are designed to support the child in accessing the mainstream curriculum (e.g. mobility, braille instruction, technology). The support for the children in settings not specifically designated for vision impairment can be provided by a number of practitioners and may include a specialist teacher of children with vision impairment who has a key role in supporting schools to ensure the curriculum is appropriately designed and delivered to meet an individual child’s needs.

As you may already be aware, vision impairment creates unique challenges to learning, development and participation. A series of recent position statements Links to an external site. by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in the United Kingdom highlight the importance of addressing these challenges through specialist knowledge and understanding. This includes a strong statement that that ‘all children and young people regardless of age, setting or additional needs who are blind and partially sighted children must receive specialist support from a Qualified Teacher of pupils with Visual Impairment (QTVI) who holds the mandatory qualification (MQ) in visual impairment in addition to qualified teacher status’ (RNIB, 2013). Whilst the MQ is designed to prepare teachers to work effectively with children and young people who have a visual impairment the precise nature of this input will be dependent on a range of factors which we will examine throughout the programme.

A variety of terms are used to describe teachers who carry out their work in such a role to provide support for the education of children who are blind or who have significant visual impairment. In some countries these teachers are expected to undertake an additional specialist award leading to a distinctive title and role. As an example in England, within the new SEND Code of Practice these specialist teachers are referred to as ‘Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI). There are slight variations on this title in the different countries of the UK and in Ireland, although the meaning is very similar. For example, in Scotland the official title is ‘Teacher of children and young persons who have a visual impairment’ while in Ireland it is known as ‘Teacher of Pupils with a Visual Impairment’.