Deaf Learners Conference 2015
1. Background
1.1.
Last year NDCS highlighted the attainment gap for deaf learners in the Close the
Gap report. This report was launched at Scottish Parliament and since then
NDCS has engaged with the Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s
Languages, Education Scotland representatives and Scottish Government civil
servants on closing the attainment gap for this group of learners. Last year the
Scottish Government formally acknowledged this attainment gap and there was a
debate at Scottish Parliament on the subject.
1.2.
Education Scotland is Scotland’s improvement agency for education. Drawing
from inspection evidence Education Scotland has reported on deaf provision
through national reports and through the inspection of schools and services
providing education for children and young people who are Deaf and those with
hearing impairment. Education Scotland were keen to engage with deaf learners
and staff working in Deaf Education. They sought the cooperation of education
authorities and schools across Scotland and organised the first ever Deaf
Learners Conference and Learning Conversation for education practitioners
working with deaf learners. NDCS was delighted to work in partnership with
Education Scotland to deliver these events.
1.3.
This work is significant given the current policy context which is underpinned by
child centred planning under GIRFEC; the Curriculum For Excellence outcomes;
Additional Support for learning legislation and the recent Scottish Attainment
Challenge, all contributing to the overarching national priority of improving
attainment for all.
2. Introduction
2.1.
On 25 February over 70 deaf young people from 19 different local authorities
across Scotland took part in a Deaf Learners Conference in Glasgow with the
help of education authorities, school, teachers and support workers from across
Scotland. This event was the first of its kind, providing deaf young people with a
unique opportunity to come together and discuss their school experiences,
achievements and challenges.
2.2.
To support the event there were around 15 NDCS and support staff and 12
NDCS Young Campaigners hosting the day and helping facilitate discussions.
There were also around 25 teaching professionals who accompanied the young
people and took part in a separate discussion on the day. The event was also
supported by staff from Education Scotland.
2.3.
The focus of the conference was the young people themselves.
2.4.
The objectives of the Conference were to:
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Create an inclusive forum where young people could share their education
experiences and views ;
Inspire deaf young people to achieve their aspirations by providing
opportunities to hear about the achievements of their peers, keynote
speakers and deaf role models;
Provide an opportunity for deaf young people to meet, build peer relationships
and explore their deafness;
Raise awareness more widely of the issues faced by deaf learners.
3. Group discussion session & key themes
3.1.
The main part of the agenda was the group sessions in which young people were
asked to discuss three questions:1. What support do you receive at school?
2. What is the biggest challenge you face at school?
3. What is your biggest achievement/dream for the future?
3.2.
Teaching staff had been asked to share these questions with pupils in advance
of the conference.
3.3.
Each group had both a staff member and young person co-facilitate discussions,
both received training to help deliver the session. Facilitators noted that some
young people seemed more confident or used to talking about their support,
while other young people were less sure about what support they received and
how this was unique to other learners. Facilitators also noted the challenge of
ensuring all young people were engaged and felt confident in participating in the
discussion.
3.4.
Through the group discussions we were able to identify key themes and
messages from the deaf young people themselves. The top three issues which
emerged from the day are outlined below.
3.5.
Over the day group discussion led to the generation of a wide range of views
from the young people at their Deaf Learners Conference. Their views gave
overall perceptions of some positive aspects of the educational experience
including being well-supported in school and their notable achievements.
However they also identified challenges they face as a result of difficulties with
technology and aspects of relationships with peers and staff due to a lack of deaf
awareness.
4. What support do you receive at school?
4.1.
As part of the discussion session young people were asked about what kind of
support they received at school. This session began with an ice-breaker which
involved pupils placing either happy or sad faces on various types of support they
may receive in school. This ice-breaker exercise presented a positive picture of
support for most of the pupils, with only technology rating more unhappy than
happy faces. However further discussion on each type of support revealed a
more mixed picture.
4.2.
Some young people described positive experiences and feelings of being
supported. Those who were in schools with resource or learning bases seemed
to feel that this was a useful place they could go to catch up with work and ask
questions, “we have a base we go to so we can go there and speak about
problems or anything we don’t understand.” Other positive experiences related to
Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) support:
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“My experience is we are definitely supported. I feel we are supported. We
have a deaf teacher, a teacher who uses sign language.”
“We see her every day.”
“We have 3 teachers of the deaf and they help us. There are 3 in the class
and they speak and sign as well. So we get support that way.”
4.3.
However some young people did report issues in terms of the frequency of
support they received from their ToD or other support staff, “really great but too
busy - don’t see enough.” Inconsistencies in the availability of support staff was
highlighted by some young people who referred to the impact it had on them
when teachers were unexpectedly unavailable, “at school in the morning and on
Friday afternoon there isn't support so I have to cope on my own. Sometimes
there isn't enough cover. It is difficult. It happens now and again. I try to talk to
the teacher about it. I know I'm learning but it would be so much better if the
Communication Support Worker (CSW) was in place all the time.” They also
described experiences of their ToD being late or having a meeting and not being
able to attend as well as general changes such as teachers retiring and going on
maternity leave, “one day there wasn’t an interpreter for the full day.”
4.4.
Young people also reflected a mixed picture in terms of the quality of the
communication support they received at school with comments such as:
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4.5.
“Teacher does not sign well, work suffers”
“Some of the communication support is level two but I feel they should be
level six.”
“They should have a higher level. For science and things there is a lot of
jargon so they need to understand that.”
Some young people talked about the strong relationships and positive support
they received from their CSWs and how they benefited them, “I have a CSW.
She takes notes for me and that really helps. They come into my class full time.”
Others talked about not having one at all and how their education suffered as a
result. The quality of signing by CSWs was also brought up, “sometimes the
teachers have limited signing skills and I don’t understand.” The young people
also mentioned not being able to understand what was being interpreted to them
as well and not being confident that what they were saying was being accurately
interpreted to the class and teacher, resulting in feelings of looking silly.
5. What is the biggest challenge you face at school?
5.1.
The structure of the challenges section involved asking the young people to
anonymously write down the biggest challenge they faced at school. Each
member of the group then voted on whether each issue was a problem or not for
them.
Bullying and social exclusion
5.2.
Bullying emerged as the top issue here. Experiences ranged from young people
feeling excluded and being treated differently to pupils being directly targeted and
made fun of because of their deafness. Experiences discussed by the pupils
included: “People being arrogant and unpleasant towards deafness”
 “Being singled out”
 “People in my class making fun of our sign language”
 “Getting bullied, making fun of me because of the way I spoke and that I am
deaf. Because I struggled a lot in school they kept calling me names and all
sorts.”
 “Pupils making fun of deaf pupils – bad behaviour”
5.3.
Pupils shared what they felt were the solutions to stamping out this behaviour.
On this point the young people talked about the need to have the confidence to
challenge bullying as well as the role of teachers in terms of reporting and
something being done about it. Ideas from the young people included: “Give us confidence to challenge it”
 “Tell the teachers, report it”
 “Tell the head teacher, the PSE.”
Lack of deaf awareness
5.4.
Deaf awareness emerged as another key theme from this session. This involved
the lack of awareness from both staff and other pupils within schools which
impacted on both their education and wellbeing. Experiences discussed by the
young people in terms of professionals lack of deaf awareness included: “Trying to make teachers and pupils more deaf aware but they don’t seem to
care or try to understand.”
 “Can’t follow teacher – lip read and take notes. Miss things – how to take
notes?”
 “Teacher keeps facing away from the class and facing the board while
talking.”
5.5.
Experiences discussed by the young people in relation to other pupils lack of
deaf awareness included: “Annoying pupils – talking at back so can’t hear teacher”
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5.6.
“Pupils need to have more deaf awareness so I can be part of more group
work. Group work needs to be more deaf aware so deaf pupils can feed in
more to the hearing community.”
“When hearing friends treat me differently when I asked what did teacher say
or what did you say?”
Again the pupils were encouraged to come up with solutions to challenge lack of
deaf awareness. Ideas from them included: “Develop our confidence”
 “Improve deaf awareness training for teachers and CSWs
 Create a film/video to give to all our teachers on who we are and what we
need from them”
Challenges with technology
5.7.
The third top theme that emerged as a key challenge was technology, as noted
in the support at school section above, and difficulties listening in noisy school
environments linked to technology use. Issues identified ranged from the
consistency of how the technology was being used by teachers, to pupils being
unhappy wearing the equipment believing it singled them out. Specific discussion
from the young people included: “It really helps me.”
 “If the teacher doesn't wear the microphone properly it can be very noisy.”
 “If it is a private conversation they need to make sure it is on mute.”
 “Teacher forgets to give the microphone back”
 “New or supply teachers don’t know how to use it.”
 “It’s annoying; it makes me feel more isolated.”
5.8.
It is clear that some of the technology issues described also link in to the deaf
awareness of the teachers using it which was mirrored by the young peoples
suggested solutions to problems with technology which included: “Make sure teachers know how to use technology and switch it off when
necessary”
 “Deaf awareness training for students and staff”
6. Other important issues
6.1.
Socialising in general emerged as a key challenge for the pupils, tying in to both
deaf awareness and social isolation. Pupils discussed that asking someone to
repeat themselves could become embarrassing. Being ignored in group
conversations was also discussed leading to feeling isolated, “people avoid
talking to you as they think you cannot hear them.” Pupils also expressed
difficulties with making friends due to their deafness. While young people were
expressing their own perceptions on personal matters, the common themes that
emerged from discussions require further exploration.
Cartoonist themes
6.2.
A cartoonist at the event worked to capture key messages being discussed by
the young people. This was done by listening into the group conversations and
capturing what was being said in drawings. These were displayed around the
room and young people were able to vote for the pictures or issues which were
most important to them throughout the day.
6.3.
The top three issues in order were:-
1. Teachers need education too!
3.
6.4.
2. Sometimes we just need a bit more
time
Let’s have more creative technology
The themes represented in the images are consistent with the top themes that
emerged from the group discussions from the young people - deaf awareness
and technology.
7. What are your biggest achievements/dreams for the future?
7.1.
As mentioned, the Conference was also about inspiring deaf young people to
achieve their dreams and build their confidence and resilience. The group
discussions therefore also provided an opportunity for young people to share
their proudest achievements or talk about what they would like to do in the future.
7.2.
Young people readily identified a wide range of achievements from pride in
attainment within educational qualifications and classwork to national and
international success in sporting achievements. The young people engaged well
with this part of the session and discussed a variety of excellent achievements
and dreams including:
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7.3.
“Giving a solo talk in English on being Deaf”
“Surviving 3 serious ear operations - the first was 7.5 hours long”
“Getting in the netball team ”
“Being British Champion Motocross Champion (current!)”
“Won award over 90% in all tests”
“Scottish national sailing team”
“Raised £1k for sport relief”
“Gold star for science”
Young people were positive about their aspirations for themselves and also
ambitious for the future. Many were proud of doing well in their classwork and
were keen to go onto further and higher education to gain qualifications and fulfil
their dreams through employment in jobs as diverse as teacher, scientist, and
astro-physicist.
Others saw their effective contribution being helping rescue
animals, being a nurse or doctor or working as art therapist.
8. Conclusions
8.1.
Many young people talked about feeling supported and achieving at school.
Some young people also illustrated how they and/or their parents and carers had
advocated for further support to be put in place at school to ensure their needs
were being fully met, this was also very positive.
8.2.
From what the young people told us at the conference it is clear that bullying and
deaf awareness are key barriers they face, with many saying these experiences
affected their confidence and self-esteem. Pupils were able to make clear,
tangible solutions to these issues and further consultation with young people in
order to take these forward would be valuable.
8.3.
From observing how the pupils interacted throughout the day, and from feedback
outlined below, it was clear that there were huge benefits for young people in
delivering the Deaf Learners Conference. Simply bringing young people together
in one place offered young people a unique chance to meet and learn from
young people in similar circumstances to their own. Young people recognised the
Conference had been a unique opportunity in this regard.
9. Evaluation
9.1.
From the 36 pupils who completed the online evaluation, 100% said they enjoyed
the event and 98% found it useful. Some of the comments included: “I got to [meet] others who faced the same difficulties as me”
 “Good to meet new people, and learn different ways that other school deaf
pupils learn”
 “It was nice to meet other deaf friends”
 “I got more informed of help available”
 “Makes me more confident for the future”
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“It motivated me and I'm not by myself being deaf”
9.2.
Most enjoyable parts of the day included: “Hearing the story from the speakers and knowing that there is extra help out
there”
 “Listening to the role models and sharing our challenges”
9.3.
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Things that the young people thought could have been better:More activities
Katie Rafferty
Policy and Campaigns Officer
National Deaf Children’s Society
Katie.rafferty@ndcs.org.uk
0141 354 7852
Monica McGeever
HM Inspector
Optima Building
Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DG