an overview of the major constructs in...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 2
AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTS IN THE
PRESENT STUDY
A. Media based instruction
B. Education of Hearing Impaired Students
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CHAPTER-2
AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTS IN THE
PRESENT STUDY
A. Media based instruction
Among the most significant forces for changes in recent years is
the technological sophistication we now posses, for this
sophistication not only affects our lives in profound ways but also
seems to hold tantalizing promise for increasing our efficiency in
education. This technological escalation has bestowed upon
education proliferation of equipment and materials which can assist
us in the reorganisation and redefinition of educational experiences.
In the past, most teaching depended almost entirely on verbal
communication between teacher and student, or written
communication to the student from printed material. Although, these
communication channels continue to play important roles in learning
process, today’s students are learning facts, skills and attitudes from
pictures, television, record notes programmed lessons and other
media. Once technology enters school building, dramatic renovations
begin. With the technological magic touch, a simple classroom turns
into a systematised learning centre.
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Technological devices and programmes in the field of education,
however, are structured around needs of the teacher and the needs
of the students in the instances where the student is the centre of
attention, technology is the catalyst for the educational change. Its
absence would make a significant difference to the education
progress, because technology is an integral part of a well-thought out
system not merely a teacher’s aid.
The use of newer terms educational technology or instructional
technology are the out come of technology of education, technology
for education and technology in education. According to Council for
Educational Technology, instructional technology helps to meet the
challenges of new learning environment. Technology in the form of
different media options, offers solutions to cope with all these
challenges.
In the context of educational technology media act as a
convenient substitute for professional planning and competency.
Media resources play active roles in the transfer of knowledge. A
structured and integral media approach stimulates learners’ interest,
sharpens their senses, energises their motivation and serves as a
channel of instruction. Instructional efficiency is enhanced by the
use of appropriate media and also helps in expanding and enlarging
the creative influence of human element in education.
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Illustrated Oxford dictionary (1998) interprets a medium as ‘the
intervening substance through which impressions are conveyed to
the senses’. A medium, broadly conceived, is any person, material or
event that establishes conditions, which enable the learner to acquire
knowledge, skill and attitudes. (Edling, 1972). The media is defined
as “ the graphic, photographic, electronic, or mechanical means for
arresting, processing and reconstituting visual or verbal
information”. (Edling, 1972). Thus media is the means for
transmitting or delivering messages (cited in Gerlac and Ely, 1980).
Sachramm (1973), in his book Big Media- Little Media, aid studies
in educational technology, categorises Computer, VCR, T.V as ‘ Big
Media’ and radio, filmstrips, graphics, audio-cassettes and various
visuals as ‘ Little Media’. A distinction can be made between
traditional and more recently developed media. Models, mock ups,
graphic materials namely maps, graphs, charts, diagrams, motion
pictures, still pictures, projection materials and magnetic tapes are
called traditional media. Televisions and teaching machines
including computer assisted instruction form the new media.
Recently instructional kit or ‘packages’ are developed which contain
a variety of carefully related materials including objects, models,
pictures, student leaflets, programmed materials workbook etc
(Sampath & others, 1992).
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Educational planners recognize that print and non-print media
should be built into the curriculum in an inseparable fashion
because different media serve different functions. Most of the
educational institutions rely on print material as a master medium
complemented or supplemented by other medium. It has been found
that print medium may not be the only perfect medium in the
educational system. Whereas, non- print media have certain
advantages which facilitate learning much more than print media.
Psychological excitement, learner involvement, promotion of
participatory learning, accommodation of individual needs,
monitoring the information input and teacher involvement as
creative managers are the unique qualities of non print media.
Media can be combined according to the needs of the target groups,
philosophies, resources and course content. Integrated,
complementary, supplementary and independent approaches can be
used for media-mix (Selvaraj, 1995).
All technological innovations have the potential to touch every
teacher and student in a classroom. A medium of instruction must
be selected on the basis of its potential for implementing a stated
objective.
Pedagogic importance of media
In addition to reading, vicarious experience can be gained from
still pictures, films, filmstrips, resource persons, simulations, mock-
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ups, television, and the like. The more concrete and realistic the
vicarious experience, the more nearly it approaches the learning
effectiveness of the first level. It has long been recognized that the
various senses condition the reception of messages in the
communications act.
Technological media help the teacher to clarify, establish, co-
relate and co-ordinate accurate concepts, interpretations and
appreciations and enable him to make learning more concrete,
effective, interesting, inspirational, meaningful and vivid. Media clear
the channel between the learner and the things that are worth
learning. In words of Dale (1969), “because audio-visual materials
supply concrete basis for conceptual thinking, they give rise to
meaningful concepts enriched by meaningful association, hence they
offer best antidote for the disease of verbalism.” The ‘hard to
understand principles’ are usually made clear by the intelligent use
of skilfully designed instructional aids.
Both education and instruction deals with acquisition and
transfer of information. Technology facilitates and promotes this
process. It guides and supports both sender and receiver. In
achieving the selected instructional objectives, the instructor needs
to cope up with 3 Ms- Message, Medium and Method of instruction
(Veenakumar, 1998).
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Message: The message is usually subject matter content, but it
may be direction to the learners, question about the
content, feed back on the appropriateness of the
responses, or other information.
Medium: Media are carriers of information between a source and a
receiver. Such vehicles are considered instructional
media when they are used to carry message intended to
change behaviour.
Method: Methods are the procedures of instruction that are
selected to help learners achieve the objectives or to
internalise the content or message.
Learner
Instructor
Method Method
Message Medium
Fig. 2 The relationship between message, medium and method
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Special advantages can be obtained when carefully designed
media-based materials are used for instruction both for group and
individual learning. Some important advantages are the following:
• Media focuses better organization of contextual input.
• Media helps to enhance the quality of learning
• Media helps to make the delivery process more
sophisticated and standardised
• Media can enhance motivation
• Media helps to overcome constraints of time and pace
• Media helps to package information more intelligently
ensuring active participation of the learner.
• Media helps to reduce teaching time and offers the
possibility of doing additional work with the learner
• Media makes the act of teaching more pleasurable and
rewarding for the teacher.
Designing of an instructional media
Instructional design refers to application of well- defined
procedural steps for designing instructional resource materials. A
number of related activities, such as identification of objectives,
formulation of instructional strategies, development of media based
components and evaluation of learning outcomes are also involved in
the designing.
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Choose topic
Formulate goals
Conduct task analysis
Write behavioural objectives
Construct evaluation based on objectives
Create instruction strategies
Produce materials
Evaluate the lesson
Teach the lesson
Fig. 3 Basic steps of designing instructional media
A group of academicians Heinich, Molenda, Russel and Smaldino
in U.S.A (1982) propose the ASSURE model for designing, planning
and delivering instructions that incorporates media. This model
forces on planning, surrounding the actual classroom use of media.
The acronym ASSURE stands for six steps for designing an
instructional procedure.
1. Analyse the learner.
Identification of learners is the first step in planning. The learners
can be analysed in terms of general characteristics, specific entry
competencies, knowledge, skills and attitudes about the topic.
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2. State objectives.
The next step is to state objectives specifically. The objectives may
be derived from a course syllabus taken from curriculum guide or
developed by the investigator. The objectives should be stated in
terms of what the learner will be able to do as a result of instruction.
3. Select materials.
Once the identification of the learners and statement of objectives
are established, the selection of available media and materials,
modification of them and designing new materials are the three
options before the instructors. The most important step in
preparation of any media-based resource material is the development
of a script. Script is a sequence of scenes, frames or units in which
desired media format is arranged for presentation. It helps one to
think clearly and take correct decision, save time and cost, ensure
continuity and puts the director in total command.
4. Utilize materials.
Having either selected, modified or designed the materials, plan
how the materials will be used and how much time will be spent in
them. Next step is to prepare the class, ready the necessary
equipments and present the materials using the “ showmanship”
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techniques in which the instructor can direct and hold the attention
of the learners during presentation.
5. Require learner performances.
Learners must practice what they are expected to learn and
should be reinforced for the correct response. There should be
activities within the lessons that allow learner to respond and to
receive feedback on the appropriateness of their performance or
response.
6. Evaluate and revise
Finally, it is important to validate the materials developed, its
impact and effectiveness in the process of instruction.. The media
option should be evaluated for its academic and motivational values.
The concepts treated should be relevant to the objectives and help in
ensuring the learning outcomes.
Multimedia in education
The term multimedia has become somewhat of a trendy, hyped
word in the present computer age. When distilled to its root elements
its meaning can be devised from multi (much or many) and media
(form medium meaning ‘means of communication’). Hence,
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multimedia means ‘using a variety of media with the intent of
communicating’. In educational technology, consideration is given to
preparation of various types of media and their incorporation into a
multimedia production.
It is necessary to explore the potential of multimedia technology
and examine the instructional factors that inhibit the impact of
technology on teaching and learning. The practical and pedagogical
issues play a key role in the use of multimedia technology as a
learning tool. The impact of multimedia results in educational
revolution. The term multimedia in education is to describe a mix of
video and audio cassettes, printed text books, handbooks etc or, for
presenting three or more media together. (Collins and others, 1997).
It can be more precisely pointed as ‘sequential or simultaneous use
of a variety of media formats in a given presentation or self-study
programme.’ (Heinich and others, 1990).
When dealing with the role of multimedia in education, it is
obvious that technological ability is given equal importance with
different pedagogical strategies. It ensures quality and a wide access
in the field of education. When transforming the current educational
paradigm into this new approach of multimedia, it will promote a
flexible, location-free education; learning activities that are
independent of time and place. As part of this new approach, it can
also provide packets of well-arranged materials called ‘learning
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packages’ for various study units. These packages may include
pamphlets, specimens of various kinds, transparencies, recordings,
photographs, charts, posters, programmed materials, work book or
any experience that may range from visual literacy activities to fairly
complex individualised instruction sequences.
Role of media in special education
Role of media is evident in the field of education of students with
special needs. Handicapped children in particular need special
instructional treatment. They need highly structured learning
situations because they lack the necessary field of experience and
the ability to incorporate messages within their constructs. They
need much more of the message placed within the context of their
field of experience in order to expand their knowledge. Adjusting
instructions to all of these groups require a heavy reliance on media,
materials and appropriate selection of materials to fit specific
purposes. In educating the special students, the trend today is to
‘mainstream’ students whose disabilities do not preclude them from
profiting from exposure to regular classroom activities. Media
specially designed for such students and/or classroom adaptation of
media to compensate for physical disabilities can contribute to
effective instruction of these children. It also helps in preventing
their unwanted neglect by the busy regular classroom teacher.
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Today, media has a crucial role in the act of giving and receiving
instruction. Subject matter as well as objectives of instruction
coupled with teachers’ skill help in the selection of appropriate
media. A media-mix can work wonders in making instruction more
effective and efficient.
B. Education of hearing impaired students
Special education is individualised education for children with
special needs. According to federal regulations, special education
means “ specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to
meet the unique needs of a handicapped child, including class room
instruction, instruction in physical education, home instruction and
instruction in hospitals and institutions”(Smith & Luckasson, 1991).
It also includes all related services required to meet the unique
learning needs of the youngster. Special education considers the
individual’s unique learning needs and arranges the learning
opportunities necessary for each youngster. It not only provided the
materials and services but also monitors progress so that no student
with special needs is over looked or neglected.
Classification of students with special needs
Students with special needs are to be classified in order to achieve
to their potentials. For convenience they are classified in to 8
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categories: mental retardation, communicative disorders, learning
disabilities, giftedness and creativity, behavioural disorders, visual
impairments, hearing impairments and physical disabilities and
health impairments.
The needs of students are as individual as the children
themselves. Mere recognition of handicapped cannot dictate either a
particular educational placement or a classification into which the
student’s individuality is fixed.
The names we used to describe persons with special needs can
influence the way the people think about these individuals and their
abilities. Also the special terms to describe these students would
negatively influence the way they perceive themselves the way others
regard them and probably our own attitude towards them. For a
classification system to be useful it must meet four criteria: it must
be reliable cover all relevant aspects, be logically consistent, and
have clinical utility (Cromwell, Blashfield, and Strauss, 1975; as
cited in Smith & Luckasson, 1991). Each of these classifications has
its own internal classification system. For example, the classification
hearing impairment is internally classified into 4 levels: mild,
moderate, severe and profound hearing impairment.
Classification refers to a structured system that identifies and
organises characteristics to establish order. The advantages of a
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system of classification for special education are the following: First,
a classification enables us to name disabilities, to differentiate from
one another, and to communicate to a meaningful and efficient way
about a specific disability. Second, a classification system is essential
for research purposes. Third, the system helps in forming special
interest groups for improved services and promote enlightened
attitude. Finally, classifications are helpful in developing particular
treatments and therapies. Many professionals support non
classification as classification places too much emphasis on the
group and not enough on matching the services to the individual
needs. However, it is some times necessary to classify according to
the level of disability.
The language a teacher uses affects the students with special
needs, other students in the school, other teachers, the families of
the students and the community.
Hearing Impairments
Most of us communicate with others through a process of telling
and listening. This is one important way that we learn about the
world we live in, subjects at school and others’ perspectives on issues
and concerns. Through the exchange we expand our knowledge,
share ideas and express emotions. Many people who are hearing
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impaired have a restricted ability to communicate than their non
handicapped counterparts do.
Hearing loss results when the ear and hearing mechanism is
damaged. Let us understand how sound waves move through the air
to produce normal hearing. When a person speaks the sound waves
from the words pass through the air, hit upon the eardrum
(tympanic membrane) of the listener. The sound waves vibrate the
eardrum, which in turn moves the ossicles of the middle ear. The
ossicles are tiny bones: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and
stirrup (stapes). The last bone in the chain, the stirrup, is sealed into
a small window called cochlea. The sound vibrations transmitted
through these bones move fluid in the cochlea. This stimulates the
hairlike cells inside the cochlea. These hairlike cells are part of the
auditory nerve, which carries messages to the brain. Anything that
shakes this mechanism results in hearing loss.
Hearing losses range in severity, differ in type, and influence each
person differently. People with hearing impairments can be divided
into two groups: the deaf and the hard of hearing. Those who are
deaf, or profoundly hard of hearing, have hearing disability so severe
that they have little useful hearing even if they use hearing aids.
Although almost all persons who the deaf perceive some sound, they
cannot use hearing as their primary way to gain information. People
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who are hard of hearing can process information from sound, usually
with the help of a hearing aid.
The age of hearing loss is also important in the field of deaf
education. Individuals who become deaf before they learn to speak
and understand language are referred to as prelingually deaf. They
either are born deaf or lose their hearing as infants. According to the
data gathered, approximately 95% of all children and youth who are
deaf are prelingually deaf. Those whose hearing impairment occurs
after they have learned to speak and understand language are called
post lingually deaf. Many are able to retain their abilities to use
speech and communicate with others orally.
There are two general types of hearing loss: conductive and
sensorineural. Conductive hearing losses are due to blockage or
damage to the outer or middle ear that prevents sound waves from
travelling to the inner ear. Generally, person with a conductive
hearing loss has a mild to moderate disability. With a mild loss
individual can still hear almost all speech sounds and can hear most
conversations (Boone, 1987). Sensorineural losses occur when there
is damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve and usually cannot
be improved medically or surgically. Individuals affected by
sensorineural loss are able to hear different frequencies at different
intensity levels. Sensorineural losses are less common in young
children than the conductive types.
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Experts vary on their definitions of hearing loss and on the point
at which it has educational significance. Though all hearing losses
are serious, but at some point a hearing loss substantially influences
the way in which a child needs to be taught and how well the
individual can use the communication modes of non-handicapped
peers. According to Boon (1987,P 160-161), “the term hearing loss is
used for individuals who experience a loss of sensitivity in the speech
range greater than 25 dB”. Others believe that even a loss of 15 dB
can be educationally significant, affecting speech, language and
communication (Northern and Downs, 1984). The amount and type
of an individual’s hearing loss are related to the ability to understand
information presented orally. These two factors affect how a student
might be taught and the type of service needed. Lowerbraun (1988),
considers losses from 20 dB to 60 dB mild to moderate; losses from
60 to 90 dB severe and those greater than 90 dB profound. Moores
(1987) created levels of hearing loss and recommendation for needed
services at each level. At level 1 (35 to 54 dB loss) and level 11 (55
to69 dB loss), the services of a speech / language pathologist and an
audiologist are needed; at levels 111 and 1V (70 to 89 dB loss and 90
dB loss or greater), the services of a speech therapist, an audiologist
and an educator of the deaf are required (cited in Smith &
Luckasson, 1991).
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Causes of Hearing Impairments and its Significance in
Educational Profession
Hearing impairments can result from various illness and injuries.
Some types of hearing impairments are the result of heredity. For
educational professions, understanding the causes of hearing
impairments is useful. For educators, this information is crucial.
Such knowledge can assist teachers in planning educational
programmes for specific youngsters. For example, if a child a
conductive hearing loss, hearing aids might be able to amplify sound
sufficiently that the student can profit from oral instruction from the
typical classroom.
There are four major causes of hearing impairments. They are
1. Maternal Rubella: hearing losses caused by maternal rubella
are typically sensorineural with damage to the inner ear or to
auditory nerve, resulting in a severe to profound hearing loss.
2. Meningitis: this disease often results in a profound hearing loss
and is often associated with other disabilities. It is the most common
cause of postnatal deafness in school age children and is one major
cause of sensorineural hearing losses that are not present at birth.
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3. Otitis media: it results in a conductive hearing loss by damaging
the outer and middle ear which in turn results in a mild to moderate
hearing loss. If not detected, this condition may hinder overall
language development that could affect future academic learning.
4. Heredity: more than 150 different types of genetic deafness have
been identified. Most likely, the unknown causes of deafness are
genetic in nature. Generally hearing impairments are congenital and
sensorineural. In some cases when there is a family history of
congenital deafness, genetic counselling and testing might provide
important information to the family.
As we eliminate or reduce the incidence of some causes of hearing
impairments, other causes are being discovered. Pappas (1985)
reports that congenital cytomegalovirus infection, infects 1% of all
newborns each year. Of that total, about 4000 babies will have a
mild to profound sensorineural hearing loss and possibly other
disabilities because of this virus.
It is important for the educators to know the cause of a student’s
hearing impairment, the type and severity of hearing loss, and
whether the student is multiply handicapped. This information will
help the educators know what sorts of solutions they and the
students need to overcome their impairments. Students whose
handicap is caused by rubella are pre lingually deaf. They lost their
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hearing before they able to speak and understand language.
Students whose handicap is caused by meningitis usually have
severe to profound hearing losses, but their hearing losses are
acquired and they may have developed some speech and language
before they become impaired. Students whose handicap is caused by
otitis media have mild to moderate hearing loss and they tend to
profit from hearing aids. Most children whose hearing loses are
inherited are less likely to be multiply handicapped. Such
information can help educators plan appropriate educational
programmes for their children (Taylor, 1994 & Smith and Luckasson,
1991).
Deafness and language development.
Children acquire verbal language mainly through hearing.
Hearing helps in the storage of auditory information that a child
receives. Hearing handicapped individual’s language input gets
restricted both through external and internal sources. Though a
hearing handicapped child uses a hearing aid for amplification,
speech intake through hearing aid is not complete since it cannot
compensate for most severe to profound hearing loss. This results in
the language handicap either in the form of insufficient language or
faulty language.
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Apart from direct influence on the language acquisition, hearing
handicap has indirect influence on the communicating environment.
This may be felt in the form of reduced language stimulation by the
parents, family members and other social groups with whom the
impaired child interacts. Most communication between the deaf
child and his immediate family members may take place by iconic
and situation bound gestures. As these children are unable to
develop verbal language systems because of their impairment, there
is a tendency for them to continue to use gesture language which
gets more elaborative. It is also seen that systems becomes highly
organised and possibly rule governed to a point that it can be
considered functioning, in a symbolic way.
Hearing impaired children should be encouraged to participate in
communicative situation and their communicative behaviour should
be reinforced which gives them confidence. To facilitate normal
growth of comprehension of hearing impaired children, language
associated with rich real experiences and relationships must be
provided to enable them, to understand how objects relate to each
other. This should be done both verbally and non-verbally.
Studies on language development (Lane, 1988) suggest that
hearing impaired children pass through similar stages and
sequences of language development like hearing children, but at a
much delayed rate. This brings about a constraint in the child as
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he/she is required to make use of limited vocabulary in a creative
way. Though it is normal in the early stages of language
development, it should not be reprimanded. Early intervention and
the help of a speech therapist may help the child to surpass the
problems in his way to language acquisition.
Cognition and intellectual functioning of hearing impaired
children.
Cognition is perceived as an interactive process between
individuals and their environment. It cannot be viewed as a single
entity. The bulk of research carried out shows that hearing impaired
children exhibit the same type of reasoning and thinking abilities like
normal children. It has been firmly established that individual non-
verbal performance measures are only within the population and
deafness as such imposes no intellectual deficits. Unless multiply
handicapped, there is no evidence that cognitive deficiencies exist
widely among the hearing impaired individuals (Myklebust, 1964).
Controversial Issues related to Hearing Impairments
The following issues are controversial that are directly or
indirectly related to the field of education of hearing impaired.
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i. Controversy related to “mapping the territory” of the
terminology.
The term deafness has many dimensions. Unfortunately, deaf or
deafness has a number of unwanted connotations too. How does one
refers to the deaf, at least in English? A range of terms, from “hearing
impaired” and “hard of hearing” to the blunt and simple “deaf” may
be heard. ”Hearing handicapped”, “partially deaf” and “Deaf” are also
included in the glossary.
Hearing impaired: In the West, this term often considered as just
plain offensive. It is an outdated way to label all people with hearing
loss. But, the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf have
regulated their terminology to use the less stigmatising and more
quantifiable term “hearing impaired” for all children with hearing
loss. In many cases this term is used in writing because it is short,
meaningful, it sounds less blunt and has been used since 1970s.
deaf: Please note that the ‘d’ is lower case. This is a general term,
which encompasses many groups of people, most of whom do not
identify themselves as being cultural deaf community. This category
is usually oral deaf people who do not use sign language. This
definition varies from region to region and it is usually connected to
people with a severe or profound hearing loss. It is hence a medical
term with deficit model of hearing disability.
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Deaf: Please note that the ‘D’ is capitalised. This is a reference to
people that are involved with the Deaf community and Deaf culture.
They are often proud to be Deaf and associate with many other Deaf
people. They use sign as their favoured means of communications.
Thy also view Deafness as a difference rather than a disability.
Hard of hearing: This term is usually used for people with mild,
moderate, and severe hearing loss. They transit back and forth
between the Deaf and hearing world. They often use speech as a
primary mode of communication but maybe involved in the deaf
community.
Like other politically loaded issues, the world of deaf has its own
set of politically correct and politically incorrect terms. The problem
of terminology continues to be a subject for debate.
ii. The oral Vs sign controversy.
The Schools for Deaf generally follow oral, manual and total
communication philosophies of deaf education. The oral method
emphases the spoken language and lip/speech reading where as
manual communication gives importance to sign language. Total
communication describes programmes where the simultaneous use
of speech, signs and other visual clues are encouraged.
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Oral method is highly essential for an impaired child to
communicate with his hearing peers and outside world. The critics of
this method cite several objections since it depends heavily on lip-
reading. Lip reading, at best, is ambiguous because; 1). Many sounds
and words look alike on lips. 2). There are homophonous words such
as mat, pan and bat. 3). Many sounds are not visible because they
are made at the back of the throat such as k, g, ng. 4). Speaking
styles vary from person to person.
The popular belief even among the vast majority of deaf adults is
that sign language is the most natural and often referred to as their
mother tongue. Denying a child’s right to use his signs is a question
of his acceptance and self-esteem. On the other hand, it is a fact that
no uniform sign language has been developed because of the
existence of a number of languages and their dialects. It varies from
region to region, culture to culture, schools to schools and country to
country.
This controversy is raging for more than 100 years. And this is
controversy fuelled by deaf people not recognising and allowing for
the differences in the way they see themselves and the effect of this
difference on their positions in the controversy.
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iii. Controversy related to the placement of a deaf child
A deaf child has two broad educational options: a) education in a
school for the deaf, or (b) integrated education in a “hearing”/ regular
school.
In the first option, the deaf child has little or no opportunity to
mix with hearing children and thus can be fearful / reluctant to mix
with the hearing. In this separated condition, the deaf child does not
have motivation to develop profound communication skills. Moreover
the deaf child has no opportunity to develop stable social skills as he
is out of touch with the “real outside world”.
At the same time in a large and busy regular school, it is easy for
teachers to forget that a deaf child is present in the class.
Communicating with the deaf is a talent. Hence a deaf student’s
academic performance can be erratic, depending on the teacher’s
attitude. If this negative reaction is carried the danger is that the
teachers will regard the deaf student as being ‘ stupid, slow and un
intelligent’, where as infact the deaf person is intelligent. The
integration also depends up on deaf child’s supportive family,
pleasing and out going personality, financial situation, philosophy
and availability of suitable schools.
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International trends in special education to encourage the
integration of as many with disabilities as possible. Though
integration is a practical solution to the problem of segregation,
reports given by teachers involved in mainstream education were
mixed. If the integration process is to succeed, a skilled and
thoughtful planning programme that provides support to parents,
teachers and children alike is required. Further it is highly essential
that a trend of self-education programme may be developed and
made in to practice.
iv. Controversy related to cochlear implant
In many people with profound hearing loss, the hair cells in the
cochlea are damaged or depleted. Although the hair cells may be
damaged, there are usually some surviving hearing nerve fibres. A
cochlear implant works to bypass the damaged hair cells and
stimulate the surviving hearing nerve fibres with an electrical signal.
The stimulated nerve fibres then carry the electrical signals to the
brain where they are interpreted as sound. With this surgery the
ability to understand speech without lip reading is achieved.
This procedure is controversial and expensive. People sacrifice
their hard earned money to pay for what they considered to be the
gift of hearing. Once the surgery has been performed, it cannot be
reversed. Many live with a failure in cochlear implant without being
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known about the limitations of the surgery, since it depends upon a
careful selection of the candidates.
Many deaf people object to the implant on the grounds that it is a
move by hearing people to make them more normal like themselves,
while they are comfortable with their deafness and do not view it as a
disability.
All these issues are controversial subjects and have to be debated
in various forums. The parents, teachers, experts and professionals
who are involved in deaf education have to evaluate the various
points of view and make their own decision regarding each. Let us
hopefully concentrate on the possibilities rather than the limitations,
which make the life of hearing impaired persons easier and
challenging.
Educational Profile
A subject, which is full of information and confusion, and which
is critically important to parents of deaf children is their education. A
deaf person’s life is largely affected by the type of education he/she
has had initially. The aim of all services should be to make education
an enjoyable process so that learning becomes natural.
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Let the “deaf children be children”. They are ordinary children
who cannot hear. They are not abnormal or deviant. They have
normal intelligence and hence should have the opportunities as
hearing children to play and learn, grow up and become complete
well functioning adults. Emphasis should be on the possibilities and
not on the limitations.
Children with hearing impairments are individuals with different
learning styles and abilities. Students who cannot hear the
communication of others well, have a more difficult time in learning
through traditional instructional methods.
The academic achievement levels of the students who are deaf are
substantially lower than their peers without disabilities (Trybus and
Karchmer, 1977). In a 1983 study (Karchmer, 1984) only 25% of the
adolescence were able to achieve academic achievement scores
greater than 5th graders. Possibly because reading ability directly
related to students’ level of hearing and degree of language
acquisition. These students’ achievement in Mathematics seems to
be much better than their reading abilities. Allen (1986) compared
the reading and Mathematics achievement test scores of two
comparable group of students with hearing impairment and study
shows that performance of students in reading is substantially below
their Mathematical abilities (as cited in Smith and Luckasson, 1991).
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More emphasis needs to be placed on reading for these students,
particularly since reading is an important means of acquiring
information. Many technological improvements might provide the
motivation to learn to read. Professionals identify two major goals for
these category of children (Moores 1987). These two goals are 1) to
reduce the achievement gap between non handicapped students and
students with hearing impairments. 2) to develop speech and
language skill to these individuals’ potentials. In a study by Moores
(1987), programs for children with hearing impairment spend a good
of time developing speech and language. As a result considerably less
time is spent on academic subjects in these classes than in regular
education classes.
Academic subjects are given a lower priority than the development
of speech and language skills. This contributes to the lower
achievement schools noted for these youngsters. Supporting this
theory are the results from a recent study conducted by Kluwin and
Moores (1989) who found that the quality of instruction these
students received influenced achievement test scores more than the
educational environment. Another study by Good and Brophy (1986)
shows that there is a high relationship between instructional time
and academic achievement (as cited in Smith & Luckasson, 199l).
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Historical Perspectives and Status of Education for the Hearing
Impaired in India
The special needs of the people with hearing impairments or
disorders probably remained unrecognised for millennia until man’s
primary mode of communication had evolved from primitive gesture
stages to sophisticated vocal language. There is no way of knowing
when or how man first discovered his ability to communicate
efficiently through the utterance of variety of speech sounds.
Though many vague references are seen, the early beginnings of
educating the deaf were left to a Spanish practioner, Ponce de Leon
(1520-1584) and he is known as the ‘Father of the Education of the
Deaf’. In the 1500s and 1600s, Ponce de Leon, Manuel Ramirez de
Carrion and Juan Pablo Bonet established the first organised classes
for the deaf and set the foundation for the future of the education of
the deaf.
The Age of Reason (1690-1800), with its ‘scientific method’ gave
way to the rediscovery of individualism and humanism. This
resulted in the development of universal and diversification of
education of all men-including people with special needs. In the late
18th century in Paris, Charles Michel, Abbe de L Epee, Abbe Sicard
and others developed the first school for the deaf through the system
of signing. At about the same time, in Germany, Samuel Heinick
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and others opened schools using the oral method, a different
approach to the education of the deaf. The establishment of schools
in dual approaches continued the controversy concerning the best
approach of educating the deaf, which lasted undebated for over two
centuries.
By the end of 18th century the work of the pace setters had been
generally acknowledged throughout Europe and many of which
prevail even today. While in United States, the first serious effort to
establish a school for the deaf was made by Francis Green of Boston
in 1803. In 1864 Rev. Thomas Gallaudet started another school for
the deaf giving emphasis to a new approach called “combined
method”. In 1890 the inventor of telephone Sir Alexander Graham
Bell announced the foundation of a new organization, the American
Association for the Promotion of the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf
(now the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf). He was a
strong advocate of oral method.
The individual and collective contributions of each helped to form
a stronger foundation for the development of publicly supported
education for the deaf throughout the world ( Flint, 1987).
India has a remarkable background in different branches of
science and art even in pre-vedic age. But it is indeed astonishing
and disappointing that we have nothing to trace back about the
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education of the deaf in our country. The year 1885 was a great land
mark in the history of education of the deaf in India. It was through
missionary enterprise and zeal that the first school for deaf was
founded by the Roman Catholic Missionaries of Bombay in 1885.
Later it was renamed as The Bombay Institute for the Deaf and Mute.
In 1893, the Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School was started by
Messrs. E. D. Dutt, S. Shah, J. N. Bannerjee and M. N. Majumdar.
In South India, the Florence Swainson School for the Deaf at
Palayamkotai near Madras was started in 1897. in Delhi, the Lady
Noyce School for the Deaf was founded in 1931. Between 1900 and
1947, when India became independent, 38 schools for the deaf were
established. National programmes were started after independence,
through successive five year plans from 1951.The Mussoorie
Seminar, held in 1955 gave importance to parents’ guidance, home
training, nursery education and in-service teacher training
programme. Under the Scheme of Integrated Education for the
Disabled Children which was launched in 1974 and later has been
transferred to the Dept. of Education since 1982, children are sought
to be integrated in the normal school system. In 1983, Ali Yavar
Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped was started at
Bombay. This institute was to play a leading role in organising,
receiving and solving the various needs of deaf education. Later it’s 5
branches were opened in different zones that is Delhi, Calcutta,
Bubanaswer, Hyderbad and Valakom in Kerala.
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Presently, there are 436 schools in the country, mostly in urban
and semi-urban areas. Bombay and Madras have greatest number of
schools. There has been a significant upturn in elementary, pre and
post secondary education for the hearing impaired for the past two
decades in few states in our country. Some children with severe and
profound loss have reached the collegiate and professional levels
because of the early educational and audiological intervention.
The scattered population and limited facilities available for
education complicates the provision of educational programmes for
hearing impaired children. National policy of education, 1986
stresses the need of integration/mainstreaming/inclusion of deaf
children. The support services in the regular schools with integrated/
mainstream classrooms are inadequate. No resource room or
itinerant services are available. The states of Maharashtra and
Tamilnadu have the largest number of students in mainstream
settings.
At present, the education of deaf is not free nor is it compulsory.
Most schools (day and Residential) offer primary education and pre-
vocational training. A very few prepare deaf children for State
Secondary School Certificate Examination or complete secondary
education. However, 8th Economic Plan of Govt. of India envisages
all schools for the deaf going upto class 10 level by 2000. This goal
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will not be achieved unless teachers in regular schools are
encouraged and helped to change their attitudes towards the
education of hearing impaired and are provided with frequent shorter
training in the effective instruction through modern techniques of
teaching.
There is no suitable post secondary or college programme for
hearing impaired students as such in regular stream. A small
number of the impaired students are enrolled in under graduate
colleges or the school/ college of Art. In urban areas, hearing
impaired school-leavers have become qualified for the following job
area for profession through attendance at private institutions or by
in-service training programmes: computer technology, precision
instrument, pathology laboratory assistant, skilled and un-skilled
factory workers, welders, book binders, carpenters, artists,
architects, designers, photographers, beauticians, hair dressers,
tailors, weavers etc. These school leavers seem to be the privileged
few who had better educational opportunities.
The Indian government has developed programmes for those
students who live in villages and rural areas.
The Government Integrated Rural Development Programmes
provide generous training schemes for self-employment. There are 17
Vocational Rehabilitation centres and 11 Rural Rehabilitation
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centres run by the Government. Due to communication problems,
the instructors in these centres are not able to give verbal
instructions to the deaf students and a very few know sign
languages. There is only one Government-run industrial training
institute for the deaf and a few in the private sector. Three
percentage of the space in these institutes are reserved for the
handicapped. This quota is not utilised due to the fact that the deaf
students lack the required entrance qualification. This is the same
with the employment exchanges too. People can also avail the
multipurpose training offered by the All India Federation for the deaf
in Delhi.
The first teacher training centre for the teachers of the hearing
impaired was established in Calcutta, subsequently major teaching
centres were opened in Delhi, Calcutta, Lucknow, Madras, Bombay,
Pune and Bangalore. B.Ed degree course for the teachers of the
hearing impaired is also conducting by a few centres in the nation
(Antia, 1979 & Adenwalla, 1987).
Some stress areas in the Education of Hearing Impaired Children
in India
It is necessary for the teacher of the hearing impaired to be aware
of the problems associated with the education of these special
children.
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1. Management of the psychological problems of hearing
impaired
Hearing impaired individuals are retarded in social competence
and more prone to behavioural problems. They have been described
as ego-centric, lacking in empathy and excessively depended on
others. The sources of their psychological problems may be the
negative child rearing practices and the reaction of the community.
Behaviour modification techniques have proved to be great
success with hearing impaired children in classroom settings to
control problematic behaviours. Behavioural counselling is also
significant to the parents of these children for home training and
management.
2. socio- economic problems.
a) Low income families find it difficult to meet the expenses of food,
clothing and shelter. As a result a child of a poor family is bound to
suffer educationally. This is magnified when the child is
handicapped.
b) Facilities for schooling for the hearing impaired are few and far
between. Provisions for inclusion/ mainstreaming are still in the
initial stages in most of the states of India
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c) Superstitions, misconceptions and ignorance of the parents and
society add complications to the problem.
3. Multilingualism.
India is country of diverse culture and languages. There are
approximately 1500 languages and about 600 scripts. In schools,
about 15 official languages are used. If the impaired child’s mother-
tongue is one of these, and it is the medium of instruction in a
special school within his town/city, then half his battle is over. If not,
the child is forced to study some other language. If the parents do
not take utmost care, the child will be tempted to use an informal
sign language.
4. Illiteracy of the parents.
Many hearing impaired children come from lower socio-economic
strata. So they may not provide academic support to their children at
their home.
5. Admission to school at a late age.
For any child, the critical years for learning are between the birth
and 5 years of age because, foundations laid at this stage can never
be as effective as those laid later on. Unfortunately, many of the
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hearing impaired children begin their education after this stage is
past. This result in difficulties for teachers, parents and for child
himself. Lack of social awareness of hearing impairment, parent’s
denial of disability, wrong advice given by doctors/ therapists and
not enough early identification/ intervention programmes may be the
reasons for it.
6. Government Apathy.
The lack of grant and funds render its difficult to equip the school
with good hearing aids, induction systems, speech- trainers and
audiometers hearing-aid analysers and laboratories. Procuring these
equipments is only the start of recurring expenses in the form of
servicing and repairs. Funds are also important to teach these
children more effectively using audio-visual aids such as film
projector, TV, tape-recorder, maps, models and a well-equipped
science lab etc.
7. Lack of trained teachers and additional professional staff
At present the teachers of the hearing handicapped receive a very
little training in classroom amplification and the little training they
do receive is frequently irrelevant and mostly outmoded. Their days
are fully occupied in the very trying task of teaching a class of
hearing impaired children. In the present training is still largely
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oriented to the production of classroom teachers for special schools.
Many of them do not possess any of the skills required for work with
young children and their parents. The change in the demand has
been a relatively a rapid one and because some inertia within
training programme is inevitable, there is currently an under-supply
of teachers who are able to provide effective programme geared
toward the integration of hearing impaired children into society at
large.
Most schools do not have additional professional staff such as
psychologist, social worker, speech therapist and audiologist to give
support to the teaching staff, at least on part time basis. The teacher
rarely has time to concentrate on individual speech correction and
thereby quality improvement.
8. Curriculum
Many schools do not have a prescribed curriculum for Language
and Number Work in the pre-school. So the teacher chooses her own
topics which may or may not be appropriate for the level of the
children. Some hearing impaired children cannot cope with the
regular syllabus for various reasons. A special syllabus for such
children should be made available all over the country.
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9. Lack of Public Awareness
The mass media is the most important channel through which the
public can be educated with regard to hearing impairment, its
implications, the necessity of early intervention, education at a
younger age, opportunities for rehabilitation etc. There are not
enough programmes to enlighten the public about this invisible
handicap. Professionals in this field also do not make adequate
contributions.
10. The Discrepancy between Ability and Achievement
The innate ability of the hearing impaired rarely reaches its
potential and lack of attainment gives rise to a situation in which few
of them can achieve their full potential in the ‘normal’ environment.
Such a situation is productive of stress and the greater the
discrepancy between potential and attainment, the greater the stress
produced (Rodda, 1970).
11. Confusion with Normality
One of the major difficulties facing the hearing impaired is their
apparent normality. This often leads to behavioural expectation
based upon the assignment of normal functioning to individuals
suffering from such a defect. The effect of this is to increase
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automatically the stigma associated with the handicap and generate
derogatory attitudes (Stainback and Stainback, 1992).
Educational needs of hearing impaired children
The deaf children have very special educational needs.
Educational practices to suit the needs of these children are not
realised by the teachers, the education authorities and the policy
makers in our country.
1. Need to develop a policy for the language and speech
development
In many ways these children require qualitatively different services in
teaching methods and contents for basic language development from
hearing children. Hearing children begin school with a well developed
oral language system which is the basis for reading and writing
skills. As against this, for most hearing impaired children, a primary
overriding goal is to develop a language skill. The language
retardation in child has serious effects on various aspects of growth
and academic achievement. Studies conducted in this field ( Conard,
1976 ) show that only 2% of school- leavers had reading age which
corresponded with their, chronological age and almost a half had
not reached reading level of 9 years. Hence acquisition of minimum
language skills, at least in mother tongue is an essential element in
the education of these students( as cited in Ghate, 1999).
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2. Need to sharpen multi-sensory approach
An extensive amount of data suggest that hearing impaired
children rely heavily on visual-spatial perception and processing
strategies and show strength in the area of holistic approach. All the
sense organs are to be stimulated during instruction for a highest
degree of performances. A multi-sensory approach should be
developed backed by technology coupled with human values. All
possible steps should be taken to provide children with sufficient
exposure to different sources of information.
3. Need for alternative learning strategies with the help of
educational technology
A scientific approach of education in this field may lead to
qualitative and quantitative differences in terms of scope, speed and
impacts of changes. Hence well-prepared and experienced teachers
should take up experimental researches in new learning strategies.
4. Need for vocational higher education and post secondary
educational facility.
The primary task of education for a hearing impaired child is to
prepare him for adjustment to the environment designed to meet the
needs of the normal vocationalised system of eduction. Before
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placing a hearing impaired person in a vocation his readiness for
work, independence in daily living skills, social skills, consideration
for others, trust worthiness, reaction to superiors, functional
academic skills, ability to manage time and money, work ability and
health conditions must be prepared. Opportunities must be provided
for self employment, sheltered employment and open employment.
5. Need for Flexible curriculum
All hearing impaired students may not cope up with the general
standards of ordinary schooling in a country like India. If the
curriculum is flexible, then certainly the divers needs of all learners
will be met more meaningfully. It is a good sign that India is gearing
up towards initiating steps to make regular education more
accessible, viable and sustainable for children with disability.
6. Need for Child Involvement rather than Child-centeredness
In guiding the hearing impaired child in the home, in the school
or in the play ground, two principles must be adhered to by the
teachers and parents.
1. His needs as child must be provided for, by exposure to a normal
and happy environment in which he may enjoy the activities and
experiences of his hearing peers.
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2. His needs as a hearing impaired child must be met by special and
consciously designed methods employed by adults who guide
them.
As the learning potential varies from child to child, it remains a
fact that each hearing impaired child must actively involved in his
own unifying ways with learning-based activity if worthwhile
education is to possible for him (Davis, 1993).
Education is that process which seeks to promote the maximum
development of each pupil in terms of his/her unique nature and
needs. This leads us to plan not only the education of the average
child but also provide opportunities in the system for exceptional. It
is welcoming to find that the exceptional children who are considered
handicapped could be educated by special methods and approaches
with the help of technology fused in the curriculum. The area of
special education is a complex one because the identified needs and
behavioural patterns of a particular category of disabled children
would necessarily vary from those relating to children of a different
category of different disability. Hence, there is a need to conduct not
only the micro level studies but also macro level studies on specifics
atleast in the invisible disorders like hearing impairments.
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