| Description | Track 1: tape test 0.41 mins
Interview with Jim Pickles, a teacher at a college for blind children in Worcester. He talks to Philip Donnellan about his view that blind people feel apart and under scrutiny, although they are unaware of visual scrutiny. He explains that a blind person in a sighted environment has to be approached, but sighted people don't talk to blind people because of shyness. He discusses perceived personality differences between people who are born blind and people who have lost their sight later in life and talks about different spatial awareness, powers of observation, and concepts of the world. He thinks it is difficult for blind people to produce original work, that blind teachers find it difficult to carry out the whole range of their duties and that it might not be an advantage for blind children to be taught about the sighted world by a blind teacher. (tracks 2-5).
Track 6: tape test 0.12 mins
Jim Pickles talks about the perpetuation of mannerisms developed by blind children that can't be eradicated by visual self-criticism and the need to discover what blind children can be taught. He comments on the experimental engineering work done with young blind people by Mr Vincent at Harborne, Birmingham and discusses the damage done by inaccurate media reports on new developments in the education and training of blind people. He talks about the limitations of 'paternalistic' charitable institutions like the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) to accommodate new developments, the resentment of many blind people of the Institute and the lack of business competition. He talks about his teaching career and his reasons for specialising in the education of blind children (tracks 7-10).
Total: 32.13 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF565D0738480 |