Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

Summary

The university course “Sign Language Teacher” of the University Klagenfurt, financed by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research and the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, offered 19 deaf graduates a comprehensive in-service training to the "Academic Teacher of Austrian Sign Language". It lasted two years, from December 2007 to March 2010. The university course had a total of 69 ECTS points.

Most graduates taught at the beginning of training already and had teaching practice in a scale of two to 15 years. Four had no teaching experience, began partly during the training with teaching of Austrian sign language. They were between 25 and 49 years old, 13 female, 6 male. Three are foreign nationals and come from Germany, Finland and Italy.

Project object:

The university course aimed to enable deaf sign language teachers a degree for the practice of their profession.

Methodology

In presence courses, which have occurred in Klagenfurt and in Vienna, the theory and its application in the sign language course were taught the participants in 568 lessons. The language of instruction was sign language.

In order to adapt the university course of study to the needs of deaf people, special care was taken with regard to the following: all of the teachers are fluent in OEGS and are familiar with Deaf culture. The necessary information was clearly arranged; if possible, with visual elements. All course contents were filmed and the participants had access to the videos via a homepage that had been set up especially for the university course of study, together with all the course materials and photos of the flip-charts.

Most of the graduates had already been teaching when they started the university course of study. Four of them had no teaching experience at all, but started teaching partially parallel to the course. Of the 13 teachers, eight people are deaf and five hearing.

The "internships" and the "independent class" represent the practical part of the university course with 37 lessons, which the participants could attend in their own towns. Support teachers allowed the participants to visit their sign language lessons in the first half of the university course. The participants themselves should teach in the second half of the university course in the courses of support teachers.

After total 605 lessons in theory and practice, positively completed tests, six independently written protocols or comments, as well as a thesis, the participants fulfilled the necessary requirements for registration before final exam.

The university course of study for sign language teachers was implemented at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt according to the directives for courses of study. The entrance requirements were adapted to the educational situation of the deaf participants.

Target

Adult deaf sign language teachers with academic training, to be able to improve the situation of education in various fields.

Good practice innovations

Language of instruction was sign language

Austrian sign language was the course language. The majority of lecturers is deaf and uses sign language as a mother tongue or preferred language. All the hearing teachers use sign language, either because they themselves are Coda (child of deaf adults), interpreter for sign language, or work in other areas with the deaf. Thus, not only the competence in sign language is guaranteed, but also knowledge of the Deaf culture.

Video documentation

All course contents were recorded as videos and could be obtained from the university homepage with photographed flip charts and the script. Thus, the participants had the opportunity to repeat the course content and obtain the information necessary for the examination. The teachers of the course had an instrument to find out about the course contents of their colleagues and could more closely align the content.

German course

Part of the university course deals with improving the German skills of the participants. Occasionally two sign language interpreters for the Group of participants with a good German knowledge were employed for the German course to convey the complex content.

Exams

For all courses the participants hat to do exams either in written form or they submitted videos in sign language. To be approved before the final exam they have to visit at least 80% of the presence courses, pass all the exams positive, completed the practical parts and the protocols and comments. The final exam was done in sign language.

Good practice achievements

The completed university course offers an attractive professional perspective away from the traditional professions the deaf participants. Not only in the adult education sign language courses are offered by "native speakers", but also in early years education and in schools, even in very low mass, deaf find a field of occupation. Most of them are teaching OEGS or working in the field of special needs, social work or working in the information centres of the deaf associations.

With the financial support of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry for Science and Research we were able to realize the university course for sign language teachers, in order to contribute equal opportunities for deaf and hearing impaired people. The university course of study could be held again if the necessary funding was available.

Reports in German:

• http://www.bizeps.or.at/news.php?nr=11217
• http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/zgh/inhalt/1626.htm

19 deaf people graduated with a university certificate for sign language teachers. The certificates were awarded during an official ceremony on March 13, 2010.

Note of the editor: The situation of Austrian Sign Language teaching in Austria is still characterized by a lot of improvisation. Field-tested OEGS courses and well-qualified teachers are seldom available, and there is a lack of adequate courses as well as of teaching and learning materials. Many teachers are part-time. A growing interest in OEGS courses and the inclusion of deaf people in deaf education might change the situation, however. A professionalization of OEGS teaching is only possible with the respective training of the teachers.

Project partners and other stakeholders

The Centre for Sign Language and Deaf Communication was responsible for the university course of study. Funding came from the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection as well as from the Federal Ministry of Science and Research.

Evaluation

Each course of the university course was evaluated separately. If possible the requirements were respected. The evaluation results were passed to the teachers. Therefore, they have the opportunity to respond in the next courses. The evaluation questionnaire includes questions, which by means of crosses in a scale from 1 = very satisfactory to 5 = not satisfactory, similar to the grading in the Austrian school system, be answered to. The questionnaire also offered the opportunity to leave a private comment.

By the Ministry of Science and Research, two external evaluators from the University of Hamburg were commissioned. On three occasions, they attended courses in Klagenfurt and Vienna to observe the course and to make interviews with the students, the teachers and the academic head of the university course. And they had the opportunity to meet with the President of the Austrian Association of the Deaf as well.

A research was carried out from December 2008 to April 2009. Selected courses were analysed to relevant linguistic terminology in sign language.