A formação de professores surdos de Libras: a centralidade de ambientes bilíngues em sua formação

The study object of this thesis intertwines the history of deaf education in the last 30 years in three schools for the deaf in the cities of Campina Grande, Gado Bravo and Aroeiras, Paraiba, the life stories of six deaf teachers of brasilian sign language (Libras) that have formed and works in these educational institutions for the deaf and our own journey, as a teacher and researcher. The study was conducted on the theoretical-methodological principles of (auto)biographical research in education and socio-historical studies on the social formation of the human. The corpus used for analysis was consisted of six narrative interviews conducted in sign language and transcribed into portuguese, documents and personal files and institutional. The analysis allowed us to define three hinge moments of this story: the creation of the first school for the deaf, within the framework of oralism (1980 - 1991), the passage into the Total Communication (1991 - 1995) and, finally, the introduction of Bilingualism (1995 to today). The analyzes show that the trajectories of teacher formation of the research participants reflect the history of the three schools which have costituted bilingual social spaces of paramount importance to the subjects and the deaf community as a group of linguistic and cultural minority. The evolution of this trajectory has allowed to demarcate between the two generations of research participants. The generation of heirs of oralism, which had delayed access to the Libras and lived an education referenced in oralism, whose reminiscences of childhood and adolescence are strongly marked by suffering for the lack of communication, which hinders their social and professional career until today. And the generation of the sons of bilingualism, the youngest in age, who had childhood access to Libras and education within the framework of bilingualism, whose reminiscences are not marked by suffering and have a positive vision of the future. With respect to your teacher formation, three figures stand out as a teacher. The teacher's improvised, closer to the first generation of teachers who were called to teach without proper training. The figure of the teacher craftsman, which corresponds to the image that most of them have of yourself now, understanding that their knowledge are based on the exchange between peers. And finally the figure of the real teacher, which stands on the horizon of expectations as future graduates in Letters |Libras. The narratives allowed to realize that the evolution between these figures is based on the contributions of the other: hearing teachers of EDAC and the Federal University of Campina Grande and deaf teachers of the two generations who learn from each other. The analyzes and reflections allowed to defend the thesis of the centrality of bilingual environments for the establishment of the deaf person as a citizen with full rights, based on the voice of the deaf, muted by the history of education, conducted by listeners

A docência na educação superior: narrativas das diferenças políticas de sujeitos surdos

Deaf teachers presence at superior education triggers a series of reactions due to cultural differences. They feel the discomfort. The cultural difference defies the established power relations. From that emerge the trading spaces with their constant shocks about problems that affect the deaf teacher participation. The thesis goes through practice, resistance, resilience and political thinking of the deaf teacher at the Superior Education. Authors like: Foucault (2004), Hall (2009), Bhabha (1998), Touraine (2009) and Veiga-Netto (2010) underlie the concept of power relations that permeate this study. Perlin (2003); Ladd (2002) subsidize with the cultural focus. The investigation came from the question: How deaf teachers make their political stands in power relations established to the construction of their narratives at Superior Education? It had the goal of identify and chart the deaf teachers narratives at Superior Education. Leaving from the interview-narrative qualitative approach it was constituted a corpus with the collected narratives. These narratives were identified in order to achieve a thematic map express in the last chapter where the constant facts of the trading spaces of Superior Education shocks unfolds. The results point to an infinity of debates. The deaf teachers do not only present initial conditions of distress, doubt and difficulty at Superior Education, but also the disposition to discuss more the everyday power chains, waged by trading spaces. The identification of the narratives was vitally important to confirm the value of cultural and linguistic recognition as strategy for new politics to the structural power relations at the university context.

Attitudes of preservice teachers towards teaching deaf and ESL students

This study explored preservice teacher attitudes towards teaching a deaf student who uses Australian Sign Language (Auslan) compared to a student who is new to Australia and speaks Polish. The participants were 200 preservice teachers in their third or fourth year of university education. A questionnaire was created to measure attitudes, and participants were also asked to list teaching strategies they would use with the two students. A factor analysis yielded two subscales: Teacher Expectations and Teacher Confidence. Results showed that teachers had higher expectations of the Auslan student than the Polish student, and were more confident about teaching the Auslan student. Differences between the two conditions were also found for suggested teaching strategies. The findings have implications for teacher education programs.

Communication strategies used by teachers at a school for the deaf

This paper describes alternate approaches to communication with hearing-impaired children which are used by classroom teachers at a school for the deaf.

Teacher burnout: A look at stressors affecting teachers of the deaf

Surveys addressing the issues of burnout among teachers of the deaf were sent to teachers in private oral schools. Forty-seven surveys were returned, providing insight into specific factors contributing to burnout.

Evaluating and re-developing a more comprehensive and useful needs based assessment tool for parents and teachers of newly-diagnosed deaf and hard of hearing children

The purpose of this study was to redevelop a needs assessment inventory for use by caregivers and professionals engaging in educational services for children who are newly-diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing.

Cooperative learning: a guide for teachers of the deaf

This paper examines cooperative learning, a strategy of teaching in which students work together in groups, thus acquiring both academic and social skills

Social skills training in deaf and hard of hearing preschoolers

This paper addresses the importance of the development of social skills for deaf and hard of hearing preschool children. The author presents social skills lessons and activities for teachers to use with preschool children.

A study of the TAGS, an enduring teaching tool: teachers’ perspectives on the Teacher Assessment of Grammatical Structures teaching practices and application

This paper is studied look at the Teacher’s Assessment of Grammatical Structures (TAGS), Teacher Assessment of Spoken Language (TASL), and Cottage Acquisition Scales for Listening, Language and Speech (CASLLS) criterion-referenced language assessments as well as an inquiry into how teachers of the deaf use the TAGS currently as a teaching tool.

Are regular education teachers ready for our students?

This paper examines what regular education teachers need in order to be prepared for teaching mainstreamed deaf and hearing impaired students.

Literature review and analysis of itinerant teachers of the hearing impaired located in the midwest: Service delivery model in education

The role and responsibilities of an itinerant teacher of students who are deaf or hard of hearing were investigated to create a database of information about the effective traits of successful itinerant teachers.

Icing on the Cake: Idiom curriculum for deaf and hard of hearing students

A look at the prevalence of idiom usage in the mainstream classroom, and the students' who are deaf/hard of hearing acquisition of idiom comprehension and usage. A complete teacher’s guide, including lesson plans and materials, and a list of idiom teaching resources for teachers of the deaf and mainstream teachers.

The Central Institute for the Deaf Computer Lab: a guide to technological integration

This paper presents a guide for teachers about the computer lab at Central Institute for the Deaf.

Educating deaf and hard of hearing students in the mainstream classroom

This paper examines the mainstreaming of hearing-impaired students in regular education classrooms. It evaluates the areas where teachers need more information regarding deafness, hearing loss and the teaching of hearing-impaired students. The paper also presents a list of resources to assist teachers in the education of hearing-impaired students in the mainstream classroom.

Activities for social skills development in deaf children preparing to enter the mainstream

A sample of regular education teachers was surveyed to assess the social skills of recently mainstreamed students from oral deaf programs in their classrooms. In addition, a curriculum of social skills activities was developed to help prepare students from oral deaf schools to enter the mainstream.