The Needs of Functional Academic Teaching Materials for Special Education Teachers With Visual Impairment

Functional academic learning is crucial for students with visual impairment, since it is a basis for problem solving in life. This learning aims to increase students' independence in daily life. The purpose of this study was to determine the needs of functional academic teaching materials for special teachers of students with visual impairment. The research implemented descriptive qualitative method. The subjects of this study were teachers at one of SLB for the students with visual impairment in Yogyakarta. Data collection was conducted in this study by using observation, interview, and documentation techniques. The data was analyzed by using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. The results of the study showed that the special teachers of students with visual impairment require functional academic teaching materials that are more organized and systematic based on the learning stages with the syntax of contextual learning models. Good teaching materials should have brief, communicative, solid, and systematic language use. The scope of the content contained in teaching material should be suitable with the students' conditions as the learning subjects.