The Praxis of Academic Support for Students with Vision Impairment: Appreciative Support in Higher Education
Retselisitsoe Kitima Kojana 
& Kananga Robert Mukuna
Issue: Vol.6 No.2 Issue Article 4 pp. 80 – 96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025624 | Published online 10th February, 2025
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Globally, the higher education landscape has experienced a shift in its population composition inspired by the diversity of students with disabilities. This article, in its qualitative approach, through the voices of students with vision impairment and support services officials in two higher education institutions, explored how support services embrace and appreciate such a student community. The purposive and random sampling were combined to select thirteen support services officials and ten students with vision impairment. Appreciative inquiry inspired the structuring of the semi-structured questions for both the narrative interviews and group discussions. Following the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, three themes and six sub-themes were identified from three Appreciative Inquiry questions. From the first question, the orientation process emerged as the first theme. In the second question, Assistive Devices emerged as the second theme. “Towards a better learning environment is the third theme that emerged in the third question. The findings informed that students’ orientation is used to acquaint students with the available support services and the campus environment. Higher education institutions are to provide assistive learning devices to ensure students’ academic success. Students need to be supported socially to ensure they thrive academically. Support services officials and lecturers should be equipped with skills to support students with vision impairment in creating an enabling learning environment. It is essential to develop guidelines and disability policies to address disability issues in higher education. Support services must appreciate all students as they are to embrace diversity and equity.
Keywords: Academic Support, Appreciative Support, Higher Education Institutions, Students with Vision Impairment.
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Retselisitsoe Kitima Kojana (PhD) is a lecturer and programme coordinator at the Department of Adult Education, Institute of Extra Mural Studies of the National University of Lesotho. My research interests are educational philosophy, inclusive education, open and distance education, and the psychology of adult learning.
Dr. Kananga Robert Mukuna is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Free State, Faculty of Education, Educational Psychology, Department of Educational Foundations, South Africa. He is the International Journal of Studies in Psychology initiator. He was a postdoc fellow, Ph.D. and Masters holder in Educational Psychology from the University of the Western Cape. He completed his Honours degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He serves as a Special Interest Group leader for the Psychosocialities of Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education, UFS. He is passionate about research, focusing on Psychological Assessment, Psychosocial Factors, Rural Education, Inclusive Education, Multiculturalism, Educational Psychology, and Community Psychology. He is an NRF Funding holder. He is an academic champion of the International collaboration Engagement between the University of the Free State and the Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany). He was a postdoc fellow, Ph.D. and Masters holder in Educational Psychology from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He completed his Honours degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He serves as a Special Interest Group leader for the Psychosocialities of Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education, UFS. He is passionate about research, focusing on Psychological Assessment, Psychosocial Factors, Rural Education, Inclusive Education, Multiculturalism, Educational Psychology, and Community Psychology. He is an NRF Funding holder. He is an academic champion of the International collaboration Engagement between the University of the Free State and the Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany).
Kojana, Retselisitsoe Kitima and Kananga Robert Mukuna. “The Praxis of Academic Support for Students with Vision Impairment: Appreciative Support in Higher Education,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.2 (2025): 80-96. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025624
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
