Teacher Certification...

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
May 29, 2002

Dear SignWriting List members:
Remember the topic of "teacher certification" in SignWriting? Here
was my comment yesterday:

Valerie wrote:
>Eugenio...you asked in a previous message about certification? Your
>question was..."Could I give you a certificate?"....I am so sorry I
>do not give certificates...SignWriting is free for you to use.
>Perhaps someday your country can establish a way to certify teachers
>in SignWriting, but in my lifetime, I just hope to get as many
>textbooks, videos and computer programs published as possible, so
>that future generations can make their own decisions about
>certification...

Then I received this question privately from a person who received a
certificate from me years ago:

Written to Valerie...
"When I was learning directly from you years ago, I received such a
certification and it enabled me to be able to teach others in a way that was
considered "professional", "certifiable", and "parallel to other teaching
methodologies."... now I am told that, essentially, what I worked for
doesn't exist...."

Valerie's reply:
That is the LAST thing I said!! Of course all previous certificates
still exist and are respected by me and I hope by others! ;-)))

Remember...you and I have met each other in person before...you
trained directly with me in person...but not so for the people whom I
have met on the internet. I would of course LOVE to meet everyone in
person!! And maybe that will happen in time...I hope so!!

I am curious, how would you suggest that I certify Eugenio in El
Salvador? I am unable to travel personally because of health
problems. I bet Eugenio doesn't have the money to fly to California,
to live with me and study with me...and I would never suggest that he
do that! I personally do not know El Salvadoran Sign Language, and I
have never seen any SignWriting by Eugenio...not one single sign has
been shown to me written in his language. So I could not give him a
certificate, unless official courses were setup here in my home in
California and he could travel here.

If people would like to fly here, we could setup certification
courses. There are four certification workshops, each one taking
about one week full time. So they would need to schedule a month
here. And I would have to be paid for that month, without much time
to chat with the SignWriting List! Most people do not have the funds
to pay me for a month, but I guess if we got a group together, it
might be easier.

Meanwhile, on the internet, SignWriting is free and my gift to the
world! Please accept my gifts...and I accept your gifts too. I am
glad you got certified years ago and that is a blessing!!

I hope SignWriting gives you great joy...and I assure you, if you are
a skilled SignWriter, people in other countries will be happy to
learn from you too...and they will respect you for the time you have
devoted.
--

Val ;-)


___________________________

Valerie Sutton
Sutton at SignWriting.org

.....visit the...

SignWritingSite
http://www.SignWriting.org
Read & Write Sign Languages

SignBankSite
http://www.SignBank.org
Sign Language Dictionaries

DanceWritingSite
http://www.DanceWriting.org
Read & Write Dance

MovementWritingSite
http://www.MovementWriting.org
Read & Write Movement & Gesture

Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting
Center For Sutton Movement Writing
an educational nonprofit organization
Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA
tel: 858-456-0098....fax: 858-456-0020
..