User:Bellis24/Deaf education

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What it says: Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical classroom education. A number of countries focus on training teachers to teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to aid deaf students.

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Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical classroom education. There are different language modalities used in educational setting where students get varied communication methods. A number of countries focus on training teachers to teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to aid deaf students.

Deaf Education in Nigeria
The Wesley School for the Deaf is the oldest school for the Deaf in Nigeria, being founded in 1958. The Wesley School for the Deaf is still teaching the Deaf in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria with the help of the Wesley Methodist mission and the state government.

The expansion of deaf education in Nigeria is largely credited to Andrew Foster, the first black graduate of Gallaudet University. Andrew Foster had previously founded a school for the deaf in Ghana. While identifying deaf individuals he offered to send them to his school in Ghana. Those selected would complete a certification course to get them ready to become an administrator, teacher, or office workers for the schools which Foster established in Nigeria.

Andrew Foster established three schools in Nigeria: Kaduna in northern Nigeria, Enugu in eastern Nigeria, and lastly Ibadan in western Nigeria. The schools established by Foster have since closed down or merged into other schools, but his legacy is still remembered.

Nigeria uses a 6-3-3-4 educational system, standing for 6 years of primary education, 3 years in junior primary school, 3 years of senior secondary school, and 4 years of higher education. In theory the 6-3-3-4 system should allow for the deaf and special needs to receive an education, however in practice service for the deaf and special needs are well behind other countries.

Andrew Foster - Connor (to add/follow up Brad ^)
Andrew Jackson Foster is known as "Father of Deaf Education" in Africa because he founded 32 schools for the Deaf across 13 African nations. He was the first African American graduate of Gallaudet University with a degree in education in 1954. In 1956, he received Deaf education masters degree at Michigan State Normal College and then second masters in Christian missions at Seattle Pacific College, respectively. Foster founded the Christian Missions for Deaf Africans and led to the establishment of Ghana Mission School for the Deaf in Accra, Ghana. Foster's work continued for the next three decades, expanding all over the continent. In 1987, en route to Kenya, Foster died in a plane crash. In 2004, Gallaudet University named an auditorium in recognition of Foster's role with a bust displayed upfront.

Australia
In Australia, about 1 in 6 citizens have hearing loss. Unlike deaf education in the United States, over half of Australian deaf students are taught in hearing schools. Most of these students will be taught primarily in English, however, there are also bilingual programs.

It is frequent that deaf students in hearing schools are taught sign language one-on-one, meaning they lack social interaction with their peers. Being taken out of classes and recess for these lessons decreases their time with other students. There are also less interpreters available than needed, meaning students immersed in hearing schools sometimes have to rely on their own knowledge to make it through a class.

The most common language taught by teachers of the deaf in signing schools is Australasian signed English. Most deaf children will be taught standardized English in hearing schools. Schools that teach Auslan, or Australian sign language, are usually only specialized schools for the deaf, which are rare. Auslan can also be difficult to learn and reproduce with others since it's common that teachers of Auslan will pass on an outdated version of the language. This includes signs that may no longer be used or signs that have been redeveloped.

A group known as "Deaf Australia" is attempting to address the complex issues of deaf education and representation in their country. They believe in the idea that deaf children need to be taught both Auslan and English, and not just have access to one or the other. Their statistics state that deaf students are usually "two standard deviations outside of the average" in terms of educational performance, and their goal as an organization is to change this.

The Gonski report, led by David Gonski and Julia Gillard, made the argument that the Australian government did not have a stable, concise approach to funding for schools. This report was the basis for the National Plan for School Improvement of 2014 whose mission was to make sure all Australian students, regardless of background or disability, would be receiving a "world-class education". The National Plan was the beginning of more opportunities for deaf students to have a specialized, enriching education similar to that of hearing students.

From the National Plan and statistics about Australian disability education came the National Disability Strategy of 2012. The strategy highlights a ten year plan developed by the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council to "[improve] life for Australians with disability". The plan was to take place from 2011-2020 with three main phases: 1) Gathering statistics about disability education and life in Australia, 2) Prioritizing certain actions based on gathered statistics and implement them into Australian government/daily life and 3) Check on progress of implemented actions and make sure the plan is on track. The National Disability Strategy is considered in Australia to be a "historic milestone" due to it being the first time all aspects of Australian government and society has come together to focus on improving the lives of disabled citizens.

Germany
In 1778, Samuel Heinicke opened the first public school for the deaf in Leipzig, Germany. Heinicke believed lipreading to be the best method of teaching and opposed the dependence on sign language in his school. His ideology was that lipreading made his students understand the language as it was spoken and used in society. This method of teaching became normalized among schools for the deaf and hard of hearing in Germany.

The government and school system suggests parents of children with hearing loss use the oral method at home, to stimulate and create excitement in learning. By 1975 there were 73 schools for the hearing impaired in West Germany, most being state residential schools, with a few private religious schools. In classrooms, gestures and signing were not allowed, children had to closely watch their teachers’ lips as vocabulary and background information is explained. Children could easily move throughout programs that best suited their learning needs; their placement typically based on their hearing ability. Integrated programs had been unsuccessful except in classes like sports, workshop, and art, but contact between the deaf and mainstream schools is encouraged. Outside of the classroom students are free to communicate however they chose, which tends to be a manual communication.

In recent years, deaf schools have begun to accept a bilingual approach to education. 90% of deaf institutions still have an oralist approach, but about 60% of those schools use a combined manual method of teaching.