I was reminded of the importance of this when I was trying to explain to a signing deaf child in sign language about something I knew a lot about: The Life Cycle of the Butterfly. The interpreter left the room momentarily.
Let me tell you, it drastically altered the way I taught, in a bad way. Why? Because I was trying to explain something in a language that is not native to me or that I am not fluent in. I left out a lot of details. My explanations were short, choppy, and uninteresting. Also, it was frustrating, because I knew I was 'dumbing down' the lesson.
When the interpreter came back, the lesson went much better as I was able to use more descriptions and explain it in a more interesting way using spoken language.
So, my main problem with some schools of the deaf I observed and student taught in were the teachers 'dumbing down' their education using a language they were not fluent in. I know for a fact that some of them (who I went to school with) recently learned ASL merely a year ago! Why would anyone want to go into a profession such as teaching using a language that they are not comfortable using? It must be tiring and frustrating to be staying up nights creating lesson plans while learning new signs. I know some of them may pray that their students will not ask questions that will require a complicated answer.
While I know that some of them are good teachers with great intentions, it saddens me that they they have the potential to be excellent teachers producing excellent students. This is why I refuse to teach in a school for the deaf using primarily ASL. I know that I would be using the Total Communication approach anyway. For teaching, ASL is not something I am 100% comfortable using as of yet. I feel comfortable teaching basic signs to young children, but I do understand that I will not effectively teach an entire lesson using ASL. I am only with my students for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. I think it is different when you try to teach an entire classroom all day using a language you are not fluent in.
I am only concerned about the quality of education signing deaf students are receiving. The same can be said for some Oral programs where the entire focus is on speech rather than learning how to read and write.
I don't know what the solution is. There is no one size fits all when it comes to deaf education. It depends on the child and his/her family. Deafness varies from mild to profound. Some students have other disabilities. Some students come from poor dysfunctional families where they do not have the time or access to resources to work with their child. There are so many different issues and situations to consider when working with a student.
Deaf Education is a daunting field. I would warn those who want to be a deaf educator (I for one LOVE it and am constantly excited by the challenges). I would advise those to really think about which communication modality they are most comfortable with. Do not pick up sign language because it is cool and you want to impress others with your signing skills. Take learning sign language seriously and think about how your sub-par signing skills could damage your students' education. I don't care if you are the best and most caring teacher in the world. Access to fluent language is the key to everything.
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Hi I agree. The problem with many public schools is that they are reclutant to hire deaf teachers who are fluent in ASL. They think it may scare hearing parents away especially in elementary schools. One vlogger mentioned that he noticed that there are more deaf teachers in high school and none in elementary schools. You are right, teachers should and must be fluent in ASL, too many of them are not fluent in ASL, it is very confusing to a deaf child, too much information is lost in between.
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Deafread allows abuse of children.
I went to mainstreamed school, and even with Oral deaf kids, teacher tend to dumb down for them because they feel they are not understanding them.
ReplyDeleteHow does DeafRead allow abuse of children?
ReplyDeleteI agree. When I was a graduate student, I noticed most hearing students, who majored in Deaf Education at colleges, learned in their textbooks that deaf high school graduates' reading level is third grade. I think that this statement caused a lot of stereotypes in the Deaf community. They can cause hearing teachers to have low expectations of students and dumb down the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are good ways for the hearing teachers improve their sign language skills by reforming the Deaf Education programs at colleges and universities. The new requirements would be taking four American Sign Language classes, interacting with the deaf community, being visiting students at Gallaudet University or NTID for one semester, and doing research papers about well-known and successful deaf individuals, like Dr. Laurene Simms, Curtis Pride, Marlee Matlin, and Robert Davila.
I agree with your blog. I believe teachers who go into Deaf Education must really look inside themselves and be honest with their abilities to fluently communicate the curriculum with their students. Total Communication has turned into signing English and talking at the same time. Basically using an artificially created system instead of a real language to teach children. We would never allow this to happen with our hearing children in public school, but it happens all the time to our Deaf kids.
ReplyDeleteSo our Deaf kids' achievement levels are stuck at the level of their teacher's ability to communicate fluently with them. They are stuck under a glass ceiling.
I believe that Deaf children have a right to have teachers who are fluent in ASL rather than continue with the failure of Total Communication that has done nothing but fail so many Deaf children for too many years. Bilingual education..ASL and English (written and spoken if desired)is the key.
Deaf Schools continue to get those kids who come from mainstream programs around middle school. This is because the curriculum has become too hard for their mainstream teachers to communicate and teach.
I know this is a generalization. But for the most part it is true.
There are even school districts refusing to put ASL into a child's IEP. Why...because it means the teachers who they currently employ would suddenly not be qualified to teach given that most Deaf education teachers in the mainstream are not fluent in ASL or even Deaf. Or it means, the school would have to look for a fluent ASL interpreter.
Deaf education has been made more difficult than it has to be all because of the people that are looking out for their jobs instead of looking at what is happening to Deaf kids.
How can we make this vicious cycle stop?
I wish I knew the answer to this. I do agree with one of the readers' suggestions about how we need to reform deaf education programs and have higher expectations for teachers of the deaf. However, we need more qualified teachers who sign fluently to work with signing deaf children. Where are they? There can't be shortage or much of a competition, now that student populations in schools for the deaf are declining (seems to be more mainstreamed deaf children these days).
ReplyDeleteIf you area fluent signer and love to teach and work with children, become a teacher of signing deaf students! Teaching is not that bad, really. ;)
Although, I have to warn you. If you are highly opinionated, too sensitive, close minded, or think using ASL is the only way all deaf children should communicate, then this job is not for you!
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About the abuse of children, If I understand it correctly, The poster was referring how Deafread would not remove blogs that attack other people's children. That's why they wanted you to remove yourself from deafread.
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