Revisiting Learner centered concept

Wednesday I took my residents to a program at the National Gallery of Art that is held once a month. The program is designed for the visually-impaired and is called a descriptive art tour. I've been several times but as I left the other day the light bulb went off and I thought - now, that is what I call learner centered. In From Telling to Teaching, Norris states a learner centered approach is, "a balance of meeting your learners' needs while also providing important information to learners in a format that is focused on them, energized by them and made personal by them." How do you meet the needs of the blind when teaching them about specific paintings in a gallery that they can't see or can't see very well? The paintings are carefully selected. One of the works was one of the large cut outs by Matisse with large, colorful shapes (done when he was struggling with his own disabilities). Others have been large with large images and a great deal of contrast. The real beauty of the program is that way words are used to describe the visual in an interesting way. A dialogue approach (another important focus of the book) is also used so that the facilitator is describing what the image looks like but asking open questions. For example, the position of the arms or hands is described and then the learners are asked what that position may signify. The learner's needs are met by providing them the information they cannot see and their own interpretations are incorporated into the discussion. This program inspires me to think of other creative ways that individual's with special needs can be engaged and energized in a learning environment.