"Signs for a Good Education"

This was an article on the Human Rights Watch website that discussed the importance of offering all deaf children an education in a language that will most benefit them - sign language. I was immediately intrigued, but then I came across a video on the page entitled "Signs for a Good Education," which discussed the importance of sign language education and the struggles that some d/Deaf students have in obtaining that education. There were several d/Deaf students interviewed, as well as a couple of their teachers and one Deaf woman that works for the Disability Rights department at Human Rights Watch. The students discussed how much they enjoyed getting to learn in a d/Deaf environment, rather than having to try to play catch-up in a hearing learning environment. The teachers talked about how d/Deaf students learn in some varied ways from hearing students and how they were able to address some of their needs better in a sign language-based educational setting.

The relation this video has to Chapter 6 is two-fold. First of all, this video perfectly encompasses the sentiment about which Nieto and Bode wrote when they said, "All good teachers know that learning builds on prior knowledge and experiences. In the case of language minority students, this means that their native language can be a strong foundation for future learning," (p. 226). The use of sign language can and often does provide d/Deaf students with a strong foundation for future learning. However, the second relation to Chapter 6 of the Nieto and Bode text is in an omission, rather than a quotation. While this chapter contained a chart that consisted of nine pages of languages, no sign languages were mentioned at any point. I found it very interesting that no form of categorical allowance was made for sign languages. This demonstrated the ease with which the hearing world forgets about the d/Deaf world as well as their subsequent inherent need for a sign language-based education.

This video spoke deeply to me, as I intend to pursue a career working with d/Deaf students and providing them with a sign language-based education. Whether I am serving as a wrap-around interpreter or am instructing an entire class of d/Deaf students, this video reminded me that I am pursuing a worthy and valuable cause - providing d/Deaf students with the educations they deserve. This video also reminded me that there are a lot Schools for the Deaf that are already providing this much-needed form of education.

Website - http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/17/offer-deaf-children-education-sign-language
Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwksMw6Ar_s