Expanded Core Curriculum

​The term "expanded core curriculum" is used to define the essential additional disability-specific knowledge, skills and attitudes for students who are blind, have low vision, deafblindness, or additional disabilities. Each student with vision impairment is unique, and so are the additional areas they require in order to achieve success in their educational setting. Experiences and concepts casually and incidentally learned by sighted students, for example, may need to be systematically and sequentially taught to students with vision impairment (South Pacific Educators in Vison Impairment, 2016).  Click here for more information about the Expanded Core Curriculum at Narbethong.  

The Expanded Core Curriculum for students with vision impairment. 

The Expanded Core Curriculum is unique to each student with impaired vision, depending on their specific needs.  

The nine areas of The Expanded Core Curriculum or ECC include:

1. Compensatory and functional academic skills

• Braille reading and writing
• Concept development
• Study skills
• Use of adapted materials
• Organisational skills of personal belongings and school materials

2. Use of assistive technology

• The teaching and use of auditory equipment
• The use of the keyboard and computer
• Touch typing
• Producing assignments
• Communicating by email
• Accessing the worldwide web

3. Visual efficiency skills

• Use of the WESSST (Weight, Edge, Size, Shape, Sound, Texture & Temperature) technique
• Use of the NBC (Near By Consideration)
• The use of non-optical and optical low vision aids
• Understanding implications for the vision impaired
• Study skill

4. Orientation and mobility

• Cane and other mobility aides
• Sighted guide techniques
• Landmarks, maps
• Locating and reading timetables
•  Locating essential items
• Public transport
• Concept development: Body concepts, spatial concepts, environmental concepts

5. Social Interactions

• Appropriate conversational skills and techniques
• holding your head up; using gestures appropriately, looking at/facing others when spoken to or when speaking to someone;
• following a conversation, listening, turn taking, answering questions and responding appropriately;

• engaging appropriately in certain situations such as an interview; asking for directions or when speaking on the telephone

• Interacting with others and initiating interactions
•  Friendships
•  Engaging in age appropriate games, play and   conversations

6. Independent Living Skills

• Sequencing of tasks
• Shopping and money
• Choosing/matching clothes
• Cleanliness/grooming
• Dressing/shoelaces/zippers/buttons
• Home address and phone number
• Knife and fork use, kitchen skills
• Food preparation: peel orange, unwrap lunch, etc.
• Read watch, tell time
• Dial phone, 000
• Home management skills

7.  Recreation and Leisure skills

• School sport, social and recreational activities
• Community social events
• Using parks and playgrounds
• Art and craft activities or other hobbies
• Self selected leisure activities alone or with others
• Electronic and interactive games
• Fitness programs

8. Career education

• Career awareness
•  organisational skills
•  responsibility
• Independent travel
• Interview and job skills
• Exploration of further study
• Meet employed VI mentors
• Work experience 

9. Self determination

• Accepting and declining help
• Understanding your limitations
• Recognising & striving: potential
• Understanding and explaining Vision Impairment
• Setting own goals
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Self advocacy skills
• Receive and offer mentorship