Lived experiences with inclusive education from the perspective of a pupil with visual impairment and his mother—a case study

Summary

In 2016, there was an important legislative change toward inclusive education (IE) in the Czech Republic, affecting students with different types of Special Educational Needs (SEN) such as visual impairment (VI). As no prior research has investigated the experiences of IE for Czech pupils with VI and their parents, we conducted this phenomenological case study to understand the experiences of a boy with VI and his mother in relation to IE at primary school. Methods: The case study was based on Van Manen's methodology, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. The results (eight themes) show the importance of family support and parental engagement, which helped to overcome some of the education system's shortcomings (e.g., the teacher's unwillingness to cooperate with the fami