Looking inside for good practice in Deaf bilingual education: a participatory SWOT analysis

Presentation to the Disability Studies Conference, Lancaster University, September 7-9, 2010.

Inclusive education may be defined as a process of identifying any barriers within and around the school that hinder learning, and reducing or removing these barriers as part of a wider strategy to promote an inclusive society. Deaf bilingual practices are consistent with more inclusive and equitable practices in the education of Deaf children; however, the practice of Deaf bilingual programmes varies across the countries and within societies and it seems that there remain gross imbalances throughout the regions of the world. Spain has historically played a very active role in the provision of education for Deaf people, and has also been one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006) and develop a National Action Plan of Human Rights (2008) within the European context. This paper presents a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis undertaken to identify, from the point of view and participation of insiders, those internal and external factors around current existing Deaf bilingual practices in Spain which promote or prevent the processes through which more inclusive educational provision for Deaf children can be successfully implemented and good practice promoted. 11 schools with leading Deaf bilingual initiatives for Deaf children and a regional department of education were selected to conduct the SWOT analysis facilitated through the nominal group technique. A Facilitation Team – comprising three university researchers and two members (one of them Deaf) of the Spanish National Confederation of Deaf People – worked together throughout all the phases of the study using a participatory approach to research. 17 Deaf and hearing professionals participated in the analysis. To enable full access and on-going participation of Deaf participants, Spanish Sign Language translations and interpreting were used throughout the whole process. Our main conclusion is that awareness and understanding of these four internal and external inter-related factors are essential to assist educational communities to understand, practice and review ways of developing more inclusive practices within the current Deaf bilingual education school experiences in Spain, and can provide the starting point upon which policy-making and further research could be built. The study also highlights the importance of moving to a more participatory approach to research in the area of education of d/Deaf children and explores ways in which strategic planning can provide a practical and pragmatic tool for understanding and decision-making in Deaf bilingual education.

Spanish Medical Research Council No. PI021068.