Hi, my name is Jane Kelly and I'm the Research Officer on the TEDI Project. In this video, I will be looking at our TEDI Research in South Africa. In answering the question, what are the educational needs of teachers in teaching learners with severe to profound sensory or intellectual impairments? I will focus on these five key themes drawing on the perspectives of the teachers that we interviewed. Firstly, understanding disability as an issue of social justice. Secondly, responding to learner diversity, thirdly, impairment-specific knowledge and pedagogy, fourthly knowledge of assistive devices and how to teach learners to use these devices and lastly knowledge of sign language braille, augmentative and alternative communication. So let's start with understanding disability as an issue of social justice. What might this mean? When talking about learners in a school for children with intellectual disabilities one teacher said, "When they come to school you have to put more love and everything just to make sure that you make them feel comfortable, that they are still like other children. They experience stigma from outside, they are not willing to do anything, so you have to unlock everything as a teacher.'' What this quote illustrates is that teachers need to be aware of the social identity of persons with disabilities and the difficulties this might involve. At the same time, teachers need to be aware that not all difficulties arise from the impairments but also through interaction with the environment. Moving on to responding to learner diversity. One teacher said, ''Each child has their own individual needs, so for each child there is a different program where you structure to their specific needs." It's therefore important that teachers are trained in inclusive teaching methods that enable them to respond to learner diversity and to address barriers to learning. However, many teachers in our research felt ill-equipped to teach learners with disabilities. This teacher stated, "The first challenge is that as a teacher when I was trained, I was not trained to teach these kind of learners. So when I come to the school then I come across these kids who are having difficulty in hearing, then it becomes a challenge for me." When it comes to impairment-specific knowledge and pedagogy, teachers generally felt as though they did not know enough in this regard. For instance, when talking about teaching deaf and hard of hearing learners one teacher said, ''We would be able to relate better to our children and to impart knowledge better if we understand the degrees of hearing loss." As a result, teachers expressed a need for more impairment specific training. Like this teacher said, ''I think the universities that are preparing students to become teachers need to look into the issue of having to train them in a particular specialization in terms of learners with disabilities" Teachers need to understand the nature of different impairments, what are their causes, what are their effects and how do they impact on a learner's ability to access the curriculum. In addition, it's also important that teachers understand the additional support needs of learners with disabilities and make appropriate additions and adaptations to the curriculum. However, teachers struggle to do this because they do not have specific training. For example this teacher said, ''If I want to teach them about music, I want to show them those treble clefs and staff notations and it's difficult for me. I do not know how to show those that are blind." While some teachers reported having access to assistive devices, they did not get adequate training in using them like this teacher said, ''We purchased the assistive devices here at school, but they never gave us the formal training from the people we bought the device's from. It will be better if they come and train all teachers." It is important that teachers have knowledge of assistive devices and how to teach learners to use these devices in all aspects of the curriculum. Given the potential of hardware and software and access to the internet, teachers should be encouraged to develop their own digital literacy so that they can support learners in finding innovative ways to access and express information. While teachers reported receiving some training in sign language, braille and augmentative and alternative communication, via workshops and short courses, they felt that this was insufficient. This teacher said, ''We are attending workshops during holidays and it is a short time, just for a week. So we can't even learn everything in a short period." Another teacher said, ''I feel like we need more training as far as braille is concerned." It is important that teachers of learners with disabilities have knowledge in sign language, braille and augmentative and alternative communication so that they can use them as languages and media of instruction and assessment and also as pathways to language and literacy. In conclusion, it is essential that teachers in South Africa are up-skilled and empowered through training and support in order to meet the needs of learners with severe to profound sensory or intellectual impairment. Doing this will help ensure that these learners have access to the quality education they deserve.