Interactions in a Group with One Blind and Three Sighted Students in a Chemistry Experimental Activity and the Possible Relationships with Students’ Conceptions of Blindness

Resumo

Background: the increase in blind students in regular schools challenges pedagogical practices and educational research. Objectives: to analyse how to characterise the interactions within a group of one blind and three sighted students during an experimental activity in chemistry developed in elementary school and their possible associations with students’ conceptions of blindness. Design: qualitative research. Setting and Participants: four students (one blind student and three sighted students) from an 8^th grade class of a Brazilian elementary school. Data collection and Analysis: social interactions were captured through audio and video recordings of a sequence of experimental activities to which students were submitted. Qualitative information about the understanding of blindness was obtained by semi-structured interviews conducted with the investigated group before and after the sequence of experimental activities. Discursive textual analysis was used as an analytical procedure. Results: the research revealed that the interactions can be characterised as tutorial and collaborative, and, to some extent, they can relate to students’ conceptions of blindness, namely, mystical and sociopsychological. Conclusions: It is important to reflect on these understandings that can be linked to the interactions promoted in experimental activities with consequences for student learning.