Exploring the lived experiences of students with vision impairments as they transition to mainstream universities in China: A bioecological perspectiv

在国内外压力下，2015年《残疾学生参加高考条例》正式向视力障碍学生敞开了中国主流大学的大门。该政策列出了12项合理调整，包括提供盲文/大印刷试卷。然而，有证据表明，学生和所有利益相关者对从特殊教育方法向全纳教育方法的转变准备不足。这一困难可能是由于大学前教育提供的碎片化和大学包容性实施的问题。例如，之前的研究（Ma & Ni, 2020; Man, 2021; Wang & Deng, 2021）已经确定了与以下方面相关的问题：(1)先前的教育经历（例如，离开学校时，先前的学术成就较低，缺乏必要的技能，如定向和流动性、自我宣传和辅助技术）；(2)大学资源（例如，由于大学没有残疾人办公室，不得不依靠视力正常的同龄人）；(3)六年级学生被提升为鼓舞人心的榜样，加剧了社会的耻辱/误解，但模糊了大学的责任。本项目将以本人在中国作为注册盲人学生的亲身转型经历为动力，以全纳高等教育的生物生态模式为理论框架，探讨VI学生在中国主流大学的整体转型体验。该模型基于Bronfenbrenner的人类发展生物生态模型（Bronfenbrenner, 2005）， Hewett等人（2017）在英国VI学生的毕业后过渡纵向项目中对该模型进行了改进和应用。通过在中国的背景下应用这一模型，我的项目不仅可以反映该国当前相互关联的支持系统（从微观到宏观系统层面）的复杂性和包容性，还可以反映学生随着时间的推移发展个人能动性（chronosystem）的作用，以及这如何影响学生的生活过渡体验（Hewett et al., 2020）。将采用启发式案例研究，这不仅可以让我了解复杂生态系统中因素之间的相互作用，还可以将我作为参与者的个人经验与其他参与者的数据相结合。数据收集将以在中国经历过或正在经历大学第一年的VI学生为中心，但也将包括他们的父母和老师，举办准备夏令营的残疾人组织中有VI的工作人员，以及不同层面的政策。访谈、观察和文献收集将同时进行，为我的研究奠定坚实的分析基础（Grbich, 2012）。记录高等教育中残疾学生的生活经历应该是通知研究、政策和实践变化的核心（Fuller等人，2004年）。然而，目前还没有研究关注中国残疾/VI学生的生活经历和向大学的过渡。此外，我亲身经历的转变的内部视角在方法上也是罕见的，但在残疾研究中很重要。因此，我的项目旨在填补一个重要的研究空白，在不同的背景下扩展应用模型，从研究的内部角度获得深度和方法发展。更广泛的目标是为国家包容政策的变化提供信息，通过改进实践中的过渡制度，不仅使VI学生受益，而且使更广泛的残疾学生受益。

Following domestic and international pressure, the door to mainstream universities in China was formally opened to students with vision impairment (VI) in 2015 with 'the regulation of students with disabilities sitting the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE)'. This policy listed 12 reasonable adjustments including provision of braille/ large printed test papers. Nevertheless, evidence suggests students and all stakeholders were ill-prepared for this transition from special to inclusive education approaches. This difficulty may be attributed to the fragmented pre-university educational provision and problematic implementation of inclusion in universities. For example, previous research (Ma & Ni, 2020; Man, 2021; Wang & Deng, 2021) has identified concerns in relation to:(1) prior educational experience (e.g. leaving schools with lower prior academic attainment and inadequate requisite skills such as orientation and mobility, self-advocacy, and assistive technology); (2) resources in universities (e.g. having to rely on sighted peers because of absence of disability offices in universities); (3) VI students being elevated as inspirational role models that heightens social stigma/misunderstanding but obscures universities' responsibilities.Driven by my own lived transition experience in China as registered blind student, this project will explore the holistic experience of transition to mainstream universities in China for students with VI using the bioecological model of inclusive higher education as a theoretical framework. The model is based on Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005), which was refined and applied by Hewett et al. (2017) in their longitudinal project of post-school transitions for students with VI in the UK. By applying this model in the context of China, my project promises to reflect not only the complexity and inclusivity of the current interrelated support systems (at micro to macrosystem levels) in that country, but also the role of students developing personal agency over time (chronosystem), as well as how this influences the students' lived transition experience (Hewett et al., 2020).A heuristic case study will be employed which allows me not only to understand the interaction amongst factors in the complicated ecosystem, but also integrates my personal experiences as a participant with data from other participants. Data collection will be centered on students with VI in China who have experienced/ are experiencing the first year in university, but will also include their parents and faculties, workers with VI in disabled people's organisations who held the preparative summer camp, and policies at different levels. Interviews, observations and document collection will be undertaken simultaneously, establishing a solid foundation of analysis for my study (Grbich, 2012).Documenting the lived experience of students with disabilities in higher education should be central to inform any changes in research, policy and practice (Fuller et al., 2004). Yet no research has concerned the lived experience and transition to universities for students with disabilities/VI in China. Moreover, the insider perspective of my lived transition experience is also methodologically rare but important in disability research. Thus, my project aims to fill an important research gap, expanding the applied model in a different context, gaining depth and methodological development from the insider perspective in research. The wider aim is to inform changes in national inclusion policies to benefit not only students with VI but a wider group of students with disabilities by improving the transition system in practice.