Canada: Signing, speech debate hinders recruitment of deaf teachers

[Harold Schiffman]

Forwarded From: edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu


CBC News



Signing, speech debate hinders recruitment of deaf teachers



School boards across Alberta say they need more teachers who are deaf to
help the province's students with hearing impairments but the community is
divided over what they should be learning. There are about 200 deaf teachers
working in Canada, but only six in Alberta. "These deaf kids are our future.
We need to be able to give them what they need," said Norma Jean Taylor,
system principal for the deaf and hard of hearing at the Calgary Board of
Education. People in the deaf community, who have gathered in Calgary for a
national conference this week, said many young deaf people are not choosing
to teach because they're caught between conflicting pressures. Some deaf
students are encouraged to pursue American sign language, while others are
pushed to learn to speak English, sometimes utilizing hearing technology.



Full story:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/07/24/alberta-deaf-teachers-shortage.html




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