CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Education is the best gift any parent can give to their child, education is the best legacy they say and all children even those with physical impairment has the right to full education just like every other normal child in the world (Adewale 2016). Education is an undeniable right of every human that nowadays is explicitly stated in numerous international documents and local legislative papers of many countries; however, this right has not always been declared for all, especially for the individuals with special needs. A visible movement towards constructing more just and inclusive societies started from the middle of the 20th century, uniting different nations around these concepts. The right to education was acknowledged as the universal human right and found its legal place in the “Declaration of Humans Rights” (1948), followed by other international documents and agreements (Kokkala, 2006, p. 5). Ultimately, the ‘right to education’ as a notion has become more extensive. Inclusion of individuals with special needs in education can be considered in a broader context of education for all (EFA) that currently is a global millennium goal. Inclusive education is proposed to be the main principle for the realization of universal human right to education (Eklindh & Brule-Balescut, 2006, p. 32). According to Richler (2004, as cited in Kokkala, 2006), “rights, research and resources all point to inclusive education as the only way to guarantee that children and youth with disabilities receive a quality education, and thus that EFA targets are met” (p.10). Being a quality indicator, inclusive education is based on the recognition of and response to the diverse needs of learners, provision of quality education for all through appropriate curricula, individually adapted education and teaching strategies, necessary organizational arrangements and resources (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, 1994). Nowadays many countries have incorporated international declarations and conventions supporting inclusive education into the national laws; however, the change in legislation is not the only factor enabling inclusion. A dilemma is how to make education accessible and individually suitable for the whole diversity of learners in a practical - classroom level as “moving towards inclusion is not simply about conceptual changes, but rather about process that couple theoretical changes with legislative and practical changes at the classroom level” (Eklindh & Brule-Balescut, 2006, p. 24).

The education of students who are deaf with multiple disabilities is an ever increasing topic in the field of deaf education. (For the purpose of this paper, “deaf” refers to all levels of hearing loss.) Based on research from Gallaudet Research Institute 2007-2008 Regional and National Summary, 40% of children with hearing loss have an additional disability (Gallaudet Research Institute, 2008). Additionally, and more specifically, 1 out of every 62 students receiving services for deafness is also receiving services for autism spectrum disorder (Gallaudet Research Institute, 2008). The state of Missouri only keeps record of the prevalence of the primary disability so the data of an additional disability is unavailable (personal communication, DESE Department of Data Collection for Special Education, March 13, 2012). These statistics show the importance of paying attention to these students and looking at the placement and instruction of these students in the classroom. Due to the presence of more than one disability, the placement of the student in a specific classroom is not simple. The education team needs to keep in mind the disabilities of the student and his/her academic ability. This helps determine the placement of the student and where the student will be successful. The placement options for these students are in deaf education programs, special education programs or, possibly, general education classrooms with support. Student success is also dependent on the instructional strategies implemented by the teacher. It is the job of the teacher to present the information to the students in the best way for him/her to learn. The instructional strategies that will be discussed in this paper for students who are deaf with multiple disabilities are the transdisciplinary model and the person-first teaching model. These models claim to provide students who are deaf with multiple disabilities with the instruction they need to be successful. The placement and the instructional strategies implemented by the teacher play a role in the academic success of the student. However, for the purpose of this paper, I am asking: is the placement of students who are deaf with multiple disabilities the most important consideration in the child’s educational success or is the teaching method used by the teacher/educator the most important consideration? With this question in mind, it is also important to look at the placements and instructional strategies of students with multiple disabilities (not including deafness) and compare this information to what is known about students who are deaf with multiple disabilities.

Special education teachers are not the only teachers servicing these students, as is evidenced by the research on students with multiple disabilities in inclusive environments. Special education professionals are trained to provide the necessary services and instructional methods to teach students with multiple disabilities. However, with the movement towards an inclusive setting for these students, general education teachers are also expected to be able to provide the instruction and services necessary for these students to be successful (Hunt & Goetz, 2007). Most general education training programs do not provide teachers with the information they need to teach these individuals. Therefore, much support from the special education staff and willingness by the general education teacher to meet the needs of these students is necessary. Peer-motivation and modeling will only be successful with the support of the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher needs to mold his/her instruction to meet the needs of these students with special needs while still meeting the needs of the rest of the class. In turn, the special education teacher serves as a resource and a support in the classroom (Hunt & Goetz, 2007). In some cases, the special education teacher and the general education teacher co-teach in the classroom. This is called class within a class. Communication between all providers is necessary for this type of setting to be successful. In a study by Hunt and Goetz (2007), general education teachers reported that,

An effective relationship (helpful) with [special education] support staff included (a) a shared framework and goals for including the students with disabilities in the general class routine; (b) the presence of another person on whom they could rely; and (c) teamwork, which provided them with technical, resource, evaluation, and moral support (Hunt & Goetz, 2007, p. 14).

Yet, deaf education is an unclosed field in the country. However, this very fact raise a scientific curiosity in me and motivate to go deeper in the field. Thus, the researcher saw the need to connect this research with deaf inclusive education, which is an innovative practice for the country today.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Even though, the access to special education schools for deaf individuals is ensured this does not automatically guarantee the full access to learning process itself. The combination of unique learning needs of deaf students and the factors external to them can create certain challenges to the teaching-learning process in an ordinary educational environment. As revealed by the survey on inclusive education indicators (Tchintcharauli, Javakhishvili, 2013), the teaching process in colleges is less adapted to the requirements of the students with special needs (p. 72). The same was stated in the annual report (2013) of the project “Introduction of Inclusive Education in Vocational Education and Training System” (Zakareishvili, Bagrationi-Gruzinski, & Barkaia, p. 38). This issue supposed to be more tangible in regard to deaf students, whose education is still a challenge internationally and especially in Nigeria, which does not have any experience in it. There is no readily available model of deaf individuals’ inclusive vocational education, which would be applicable in the Nigerian context. According to the managerial staff of the pilot project, the provision of successful education for deaf learners represents one of the priorities and simultaneously the concerns of this study.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to investigate the best teaching strategy to teach students with hearing impairment, specifically the study intends to:

1.     Identify classroom communication strategy used in classrooms for learners with hearing impairments.

2.     Establish whether there was adequate learning materials for learners with hearing impairments.

3.     Establish whether the classroom environment was supportive of effective classroom communication for learners with hearing impairments.

4.     Determine how classroom communication affected the academic performance of learners with hearing impairments.