Omagh principal calls for teacher training to help deaf pupils

THE quality of education available to deaf students in Tyrone will continue to decline unless a robust intervention strategy is put in place – this is the view held by many regional experts, including the principal of Arvalee School, Omagh.

Last week, the National Deaf Children’s Society warned of a looming educational crisis across the North, claiming that a shrinking pool of specially trained staff poses a major threat to the ability of schools to deliver for their hearing-impaired pupils.

The report revealed that the number of ‘teachers of the deaf’ has fallen by a third in a decade. Moreover, they forecasted that the North is yet to reach the nadir of this crisis, with four in ten ‘teachers of the deaf’ due to retire in the next 10-15 years.

Responding to the startling figures, Jonathan Gray, the principal of Arvalee School, Omagh, expressed his concern, stating that the continuation of this trend could seriously undermine the ability of deaf pupils to achieve their full potential.

“Early and consistent peripatetic support is really important for pupils with a permanent hearing loss,” began Mr Gray.

The Education Authority’s (EA) Sensory Service is tasked with providing this support for schools.

According to Helen Ferguson, head of policy at National Deaf Children’s Society, there are now only 27 fully trained peripatetic support workers employed by the EA, compared with 37 ten years ago.

Mr Gray continued, “Being deaf says absolutely nothing about your cognitive capacity. The academic results of deaf pupils who get the support they need are virtually indistinguishable from their full-hearing peers. However, without the right support and in the absence of necessary classroom adjustments, there can be a significant gulf in academic performance.”

Mr Gray described how, without the right training, a teacher and their classroom might fail to accommodate a hearing-impaired pupil.

“There are a lot of simple things which a teacher can do in order to ensure that a deaf pupil is getting the best chance to understand a lesson.

“It is all about communication. Every pupil has to be able to hear – or understand by some other means – what the teacher is trying to communicate. Without effective communication, how can anyone be expected to learn.”

Mr Gray explained the importance of; limiting obtrusive background noise; ensuring that lighting does not hamper a pupil’s ability to lip-read; and the necessity of facing the class when speaking.

“These seem like simple things,” emphasised Mr Gray, “but, without the relevant training, teachers do not always know to make these relatively straightforward adjustments.”

Mr Gray said that time constraints and a lack of availability of courses make it almost impossible to get teachers the training they need to accommodate deaf pupils.

He suggested that this training should be incorporated into standard, core teacher training courses.

“Either more peripatetic support workers need to be recruited, or the relevant training has to become part of general teacher training. This is about inclusivity and giving every pupil an equal chance. Surely there is some part of the current teacher training that is less important than providing prospective teachers with the skills needed to give every child the best chance,” said Mr Gray.

In conclusion, Mr Gray said, “At some point, almost every teacher is going to have a deaf pupil come into their class. When that time inevitably comes, we should want our teachers know exactly what to do to remove as many obstacles as possible for that student, allowing them the exact same chance of learning as everybody else in the class.”