Factors Inhibiting the Learning of Mathematical Skills among the Hearing Impaired Pupils in Basic Schools In Zambia

This paper is an extract from a PhD study on factors inhibiting the learning of mathematical skills among the hearing impaired pupils in Basic Schools in Zambia. It analyses the factors inhibiting the learning of mathematical skills, the nature of Mathematical skills taught, the instructional strategies used by the teachers in teaching Mathematical skills, the educational resources available for the teaching of Mathematical skills, availability of educational materials for teaching Mathematical skills, and the suitability of the available of the educational materials for teaching Mathematical skills to the hearing impaired pupils in Basic Schools in Zambia. As regards the factors inhibiting the learning of mathematical skills by the hearing impaired, these included lack of understanding of concepts of Mathematical skills by pupils, inadequate textbooks, negative attitude of teachers in the delivery of the curriculum, and teachers lack of training in or knowledge of Sign Language. In terms of the nature of Mathematical skills taught to the hearing impaired pupils in Basic Schools in Zambia, these were addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of numbers. As regards availability of educational resources, these were not readily available. As regards suitability of the available resources, most of the books were not suitable for teaching the hearing impaired pupils because they were not presented in the form of concrete objects and that the materials presented in the books kept on changing now and then in relation to modern trends in education.