When “Inclusion” Jeopardizes the Learning Opportunities of Deaf Students: The Case of Chile

Deaf education in Chile has made important progress during the past 30 years, particularly during the past decade. However, many of these achievements have brought new problems and challenges. This chapter gives an overview of the paths followed by educational policy, school practices, and research in deaf education. The authors’ review of official documents and published research was enriched by the voices of eight key informants connected to deaf education. From the analysis of all the material gathered, they identified several important issues, such as the tension between policies that promote the education of deaf students in regular schools and those that acknowledge the importance of sign language in deaf education. They also included some proposals for further research and for moving forward in educational policy and practices, with a focus on the important role deaf adults can play in these processes.

Best Practices and Challenges of Deaf Education in Mexico

Education for the deaf in Mexico has gone through many stages. It started out with a school for the deaf where Mexican Sign Language flourished, then moved across the spectrum to a medical-rehabilitation paradigm in which sign language was seen as a threat to the development and use of spoken language, and then focused on the integration of deaf students with children with other disabilities. Today the public school system promotes inclusion for deaf students in regular classrooms with very poor or no specialized support. Although the normative and legal framework in Mexico supports the use of sign language and bilingual education, the situation on the ground is less than optimal. This chapter discusses the achievements and the challenges we face in providing quality education that establishes a firm basis for the total inclusion of the deaf in Mexico. The experience of the Instituto Pedagógico para Problemas del Lenguaje (IPPLIAP) with a bilingual educational model is covered. Results of a survey of teachers who work with deaf learners throughout the country are reviewed.

Deaf Education and the Use of Sign Language in Mainland China

This chapter discusses the Chinese government’s policies and laws dealing with the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. In policy, priority is given to placement of DHH learners in mainstream education. Listening and speech rehabilitation services for DHH preschoolers are discussed. These have been developed and provided for a long time. Currently, approaches to language teaching for students at schools for the deaf are diversifying because the initiative focusing on Chinese General Sign Language will be applied nationwide in 2018. However, due to Chinese culture and traditional education practices, teachers who work with DHH students find themselves culturally at odds with the use of sign language and tend to stick to their own, different views on the “Learning in Regular Classrooms” policy.

Deaf Education in India

Given that India is a multicultural and multilingual country, there have always been challenges in educating the deaf. After independence, many legislative policies were put forth for the rights of the disabled, but the country’s fast-growing population made it difficult to cope with the demand. In the current scenario, the government of India and many nongovernmental organizations have partnered to overcome this challenge. There is more research being done in the field, and many methods of communication and educational approaches that were previously suppressed, like sign language and bilingualism, have been brought forth. Further developments in this arena are being made. This chapter throws light on the past, present, and future of education of the deaf and hard of hearing in India, the challenges that remain, and the prospects that we envisage.

Deaf Education Beyond the Western World: An Introduction

This introductory chapter outlines the case for focusing on deaf education beyond the Western world. Research into the effectiveness of educational approaches for deaf learners needs to be ecologically situated, because the geopolitical context in which the research is carried out will influence the results. To improve education for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in countries beyond the Western world, it is not sufficient simply to apply research results obtained in countries in the West. To do so is to ignore the specific political, economic, and cultural contexts in a given situation, risking a mismatch between findings and needs or, at worst, the potential to do significant harm, either in the short term or the long term. Rather, we must focus on the specific, local contexts in which deaf education is situated, together with any international obligations that might influence how education is to be conducted in these contexts. To build a context for the interpretation of the chapters in this volume, attention is given to the relationship between poverty and disability, to international policy frameworks influencing educational practices all over the globe, to the worldwide advocacy of inclusive education, and to development cooperation. In addition, data are given about the prevalence of hearing loss in children in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Middle and Latin America.

Deaf Education in Brazil: Contexts, Challenges, and Perspectives

Changes in the past two decades have improved the position of the deaf in Brazil: Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) is an officially recognized language, deaf children can go to school, and bilingual education is available to deaf students. However, many deaf children do not attend school, and enrollment rates in high school and higher education are low. Moreover, the language policy views of the Brazilian deaf movement and the Brazilian Ministry of Education do not align. The deaf movement pleads for bilingual deaf schools, whereas the Brazilian government follows an inclusion policy. This chapter presents an overview of the position of the deaf in Brazil and their participation in education, considering national deaf policy and its implications for and impact on deaf education. Teaching practices in bilingual education are discussed, and recommendations and challenges for Brazilian deaf education are considered.

More Alike than Different: Educational and Social Aspirations and Paths to Successful Adulthood of Polish Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents

This chapter outlines the history and current status of education for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) learners in Poland. In the past 30 years, Poland has undergone significant social and educational changes that have influenced the education of all students, including those with special needs, as well as ideas about their position in society. These changes have empowered many young people (including DHH students) to pursue university education, to work abroad in richer Western countries, and to generally lead lives that are more independent and self-directed than those of their parents. The authors also discuss the important influences that the country’s universal neonatal hearing screening program and today’s technology play in improving the lives of Polish DHH young people.

Educational Challenges for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children in Morocco

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals have long struggled to be fully included, educationally, socially, and career-wise, in the mainstream of Moroccan society. Although the government has demonstrated philosophically that provision of education to children with disabilities K-12 is within their purview, they have yet to take substantive steps to effect this change. This chapter provides an overview of the state of education of DHH in Morocco and ongoing efforts to address challenges to full educational opportunities. More specifically, this chapter describes how a recent project funded by the United States Aid for International Development (USAID) has had a significant impact on education of the deaf there.

Deaf Education Beyond the Western World: Knowledge Exchange, Best Practices, and Challenges

This concluding chapter pulls together the threads that run through this wide-ranging volume. It first addresses the notion of learning through exchange of knowledge. It then considers the practices and policies in educating deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in the countries represented by chapters of this volume. Each of these chapters provides the reader with insight into the state of affairs of deaf education in a country as seen and experienced by individuals actually working in that country. What are the commonalities? What are the differences? What can we learn from best practices? The chapter concludes by assessing the major challenges facing deaf education in countries “beyond the Western world” and looks ahead to the prospects for future development and research in the context of recently adopted international legal frameworks.

Deaf Education in Croatia: Challenges and Perspectives

This chapter provides an overview of deaf education in Croatia, focusing on the current educational context and communication options for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. After a brief overview of the history of deaf education in the country, which dates back to the 1830s, the author provides essential demographic information and educational placement options for these students. Related challenges are covered, specifically the lack of evidence-based policy regarding teaching methodology. The Deaf community and Deaf culture in Croatia are discussed. Research studies outlining the language and literacy problems of deaf students in Croatia, as well as the socioemotional issues of deaf children, are presented.