Teaching landscape in case of visual impairment: some reflections for a deontology of geographical education

Abstract

This article presents some thoughts on landscape education in case of visual impairment. After four years of research spent on this matter, we would like to share with the scientific community an issue that is crucial for us, but substantially still ignored by literature. May the educator omit the visual meaning of the concept of landscape, or must they communicate it? What responsibilities, risks and benefits may emerge from one choice or the other? We believe that it is a delicate and significant problem, that cannot be bypassed simply resorting to non-visual forms of perception and meaning. Either way, we consider it an issue tackling the deontology of education, defining and therefore preceding any potential theoretical speculation or methodological solution. This is why we want to provide the reader with some conceptual tools useful to frame the issue and its possible implications from several points of view. In this case, the reflection on such implications will be conducted adopting and comparing three categories of sources: national and international normative sources; etymological and linguistic sources; sources from geographical theory. The result of these considerations suggests that, even in the context of visual impairment, the educator cannot avoid the duty to find the tools to communicate the visual value of landscape and, consequently, all the risks that this choice entails.