The Formation and Teaching Methods of Educational Institutions for Visually Impaired Children in Uzbekistan (1925–1990)

This article offers a comprehensive historical analysis of the formation and evolution of educational institutions for visually impaired children in Soviet Uzbekistan during the period from 1925 to 1990. It investigates how the Soviet state’s ideological commitment to social equality and labor participation shaped the development of specialized educational structures for blind children in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). Drawing on unpublished archival materials, official Soviet educational directives, and contemporaneous pedagogical publications, the study reconstructs the four principal stages of institutionalization: the initial establishment phase (1925–1940), expansion during and after World War II (1941–1955), professionalization and curriculum reform (1956–1970), and full systematization and consolidation (1971–1990). Special attention is given to the emergence of defectology as a foundational science in Soviet special education and its role in informing teaching methodologies, teacher training, and the design of tactile and auditory instructional tools. The study also addresses how broader socio-political transformations, such as the post-Stalinist liberalization and the development of national education systems within the Soviet framework, influenced pedagogical approaches for visually impaired children. The findings demonstrate that although the Uzbek SSR operated within the centralized Soviet model, local adaptations emerged in response to cultural, linguistic, and infrastructural particularities. This article contributes to the global history of special education by providing new insights into how socialist states conceptualized disability, education, and inclusion during the twentieth century.