“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Deaf, I shall fear no evil…”
Except I do. I do fear, hmm, no, not evil, but I fear you lot. Deaf people. Even though I am one. I never used to, of course, but that was before I realised the terrible truth… You can sue me. Or, at the very least, get me sacked from my job and run out of town.
Believe it or not, I somehow manage to do a lot of things. I would like you to imagine me as the nurturing head of an immaculate, smoothly-run household, managing to compose great journalistic pieces of our time, alongside endless hours spent baking brownies and bread while solving the economic problems of the First and Third Worlds, developing cures for teenage acne, teenage pregnancy and, well, just teenagers. This is how it is, every day.
Definitely do not imagine me bashing out 500 words at 4.00am with a 6.00am deadline, looking like a hungover Ewok, wondering what day it is and throwing dry cereal at my family if they dare to be hungry. Not that.
My point (they always manage to get a bit lost, don’t they?) was, I do lots of things and from time to time I have been known to teach. Recently, this has been Shakespeare, with a lovely group of English students who are so intelligent I basically sit and ask them questions just to learn the answers.
Now the group are mainly hearing, but there are a few deaf students too. It makes for a unique dynamic, as everyone really goes out of their way to avoid communication breakdowns, and, naturally, to set traps for their teacher who walks straight into every one, naively believing they would get bored with doing so. (They don’t. Ever.)
However, it also makes for some tricky times. Some of the students on the English course are fantastically bright and knowledgeable, but they can struggle with some actual written English. Some of the deaf students, who create beautiful, stunning signed interpretations of Shakespeare, actually find it hard to read deep, jargon-laden English from a page.
Textbooks, the bane of all student lives, are particularly inaccessible to them, because of the constant text bombardment and unnecessarily complex descriptions. But they’re not afraid of a little hard work, and, to be honest, there are hearing students who struggle more. Hell, even I can’t read more than one chapter of an intense textbook without a tea break – and I write the bloody things…
I hadn’t really thought too much about this, because we all get on so well as it is – them laughing and getting on with their work while I go and scour the staff room for dry clothes to change into (what absolute larks we have!). But then I got assessed. And the assessor decided my slides were too English for the deaf students, and also the two Polish girls who, ironically, speak much better English than the assessor did.
FINE, I said. FINE, I WILL MAKE ALL THE SLIDES INTO BSL. (The capitals here denote my soothing and unbothered tone.)
The assessor, she said no. No, no, no. Because then it becomes inaccessible to the hearing people. “ACCESSIBILITY IS KEY. You must make all of the English very, very simple. FOR ACCESSIBILITY. Otherwise they will sue you. FOR DISCRIMINATION.” (The capitals here denote the fact I thought she was a foolish melon – not that I dislike assessments, but usually they provide constructive solutions, not just jollop. And she really was a baggage; talking to the deaf students as if they were mute cows she’d unfortunately happened upon in a field.)
The Emily Howlett, she said no. “If I make it all really simple then it’s offensive. Nobody learns anything. It’s patronising and silly and I don’t like you and I won’t do it. So there.” (That’s the accessible, simple version. The real version had many, many more swears and went on for about three days.)
But, of course, she was right. My lessons aren’t accessible to everyone. If your grasp of English is very, very basic, you would need a lot of support. But, y’know, it’s an English class, teaching students who have already passed GCSE and A Levels in English, and are specialising in some of the most complex literature ever written, even if we do hit the odd textbook-shaped roadblock. I thought that excused the fact that I used quite a lot of written English teaching it, but am I wrong? Should everything be accessible to everyone all the time? Is that even possible? It sounds nice, I guess.
My students have communication support in any form they require, but none of them use it. Instead the whole group works together; generally, when one person is struggling with something, several others admit they’re finding it difficult too, and I basically sit back and let them work it out together. The ones who understand explain to the others, and then later the tables turn. It’s a lovely atmosphere, and I thought it was the meaning of accessibility; everyone piling in together to create and improve and share.
Well, whatever it is we do there; it isn’t accessibility the politically correct way. And I’m scared to challenge these PC norms, because we really had to fight to get some of those in place – we still fight every day for our rights to access everything fully. Who am I, some maverick teacher, to come along and say, “Actually we don’t need that?”
Mixed messages. I’m scared of sending mixed messages to the people who don’t really understand our situation but who govern our lives. So, I’ve gone for the easy option. I’ve scrapped all the slides. I just can’t bring myself to go into that classroom with one syllable, four word sentences and insult the intelligence of those wonderful young people.
Those wonderful, wonderful young people. No matter if they sue me for discriminating against them, they remain forever wonderful in my heart for one reason more than any. Obviously, I can’t give you details. I’m afraid of being sued.
But, let’s put it this way; if you come to assess me and my students, and you bring a closed and locked mind, well, you better also bring a change of clothes. It’s a crying shame, but nobody will have anything spare. So sorry about that.
Emily Howlett is a Contributing Editor to this site. She is a profoundly Deaf actress, writer, horsewoman and new mum. Emily used to be found all over the place, but motherhood has turned her into somewhat of a self-confessed homebody. She now has not one, but four grey eyebrow hairs. C’est la vie. She tweets as @ehowlett
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Sam
March 21, 2014
I couldn’t agree more! Accessibility will always be important, but if you keep working to lowest common denominator then you’re not doing ANYONE any favours. Better to challenge everybody’s minds and give additional support where needed. You never know what giddy heights people might reach if you challenge them.
Sarah Playforth
March 21, 2014
Wonderfully put, Emily. I believe in accessibility & have trained many people in its esoteric art. But I also believe in the right for young minds (and older ones) to have the opportunity to expand. How that can happen if we dumb down (as opposed to translating or interpreting, which is a different accessibility issue entirely) beautiful literature unnecessarily?
Matt Brown
March 21, 2014
Absolutely. People – especially young people but really, all people – need and require to be exposed to language which is difficult and sometimes *too* difficult. You do not develop language and discourse skills if you never get any complex input. In very young children, research shows it also related to development of theory of mind.
Dan Sumners (@sumnersdan)
March 21, 2014
Thanks for this very clear and engaging piece Emily. Regarding being sued, it sounds to me like you’ve created an open, relaxed environment in which your students can talk to you, so how likely is it one of them is going to take you to court, rather than letting you know they’re struggling with this or that? Not very, I would venture.
Contrary to what you might believe if you read the tabloids, the UK does not have a suing culture. A couple of years ago I worked with the Cabinet Office on red tape and volunteering. We looked into things such as people being sued for not properly clearing snow from the pavement – we could not find one case.
The idea that everyone’s poised to sue is used by some to resist change. It’s sad if one person who cannot think creatively, or at least recognise creativity when they see it, is able to stymie the efforts of those who can simply by raising the – almost non-existent – threat of legal action.
Have you thought about garnering the support of your students to support your approach? Is there someone at a senior level who can champion what you’re doing? It sounds like the results of your approach are good, so shout about them and get others to do the same!
The only way we’ll move things along, create a truly inclusive culture, is to challenge those who think their role is to make sure everyone tows the line, especially when it’s a line of their own invention. Because fostering an equal society is not about everyone being treated the same, about starting from the lowest common denominator, but about designing creative solutions to ensure everyone has the same oppotunity to reach and surpass their potential at any given time.
rachel kutchinski
March 21, 2014
I agree. Turn the problem into a solution by “garnering the support of your students” (Dan Sumners). Involve them in generating subtitles, highlighting key words etc. A valuable constructive collaboration.
Hartmut
March 21, 2014
I can sympathize the dilemma, when a well-meaning hearing teacher faces while trying to teach English or other academic subjects to a population with diverse language backgrounds and competencies.
Be sure to be cognizant that hearing foreign speakers have different problems learning an academic subject than Deaf sign users. A Polish student may benefit more being taught by a Polish native tutor, even when he is speaking English on the subject. His English may be more accessible to the Polish immigrants than yours. A Deaf tutor may employ techniques to Deaf students that are more suitable to them but unknown to you
But a Deaf tutor, completely fluent in BSL/ASL/DGS/LSF whatsoever, who understands English texts very well, could present English academic concepts better than a hearing teacher could, even if the latter learned BSL/…, I have done repeatedly in the course of my 50 years of my academic life. Deaf students repeatedly exclaimed, I finally understood it, the interpreter signed fabulously, but still it went over my head.
It is not a matter of the length of sentences (and word choices unfamiliar to your students) as your assessor sees in your slides. (Foreigners as well as Deaf students often do not know the idiomatic vocabulary, as they are usually inaccessible in dictionaries) Emily, does your slides contain too much of the colloquial language like you have used in your blog above? I have my trouble understanding some of it already, being a Deafie quadrilingual not knowing how a Hearie talk to each other in colloquial English as well as in German.
The best solution, it seems, is to team with bilinguals (Polish/English, Deaf BSL/English) and prepare your presentations in cooperation with them. Allow more classroom time for clarifications. Your slides can remain in the language of the text books. That is how students need to learn the language of the academic subject, how they study, and use the terminology for researching. I, like many Deaf tutors or interpreters, fingerspell the English words for clients to remember on top of signing their meanings.
Your assessor may have noticed something being not helpful to your students of whatever background. But his feedback unfortunately was not helpful to you, thinking that it is a problem of complexity in sentence structure or of its length. They are not. In my analysis, your slides in the jargon of the subject may be OK, but the delivery of their meaning to students may be more problematic.
Emily, hope it helps you.
Hartmut
deaflinguist
March 21, 2014
Emily,
This is a great article. It really resonates – what is needed in teaching is a flexible, imaginative approach, and an understanding that students at that level need guidance to learn rather than outright teaching. All the best teachers challenge their students. What a fantastic article and fantastic attitude to teaching you have.
Alas, so many people have closed minds and think they can speak for deaf people – the deaf people who are articulate and intelligent enough to study Shakespeare. That’s an attitude that needs resisting at every turn. It presumes deaf people are too timid to take control of their own learning.
DL
deaflinguist
March 21, 2014
Hartmut,
I think Emily’s point was that a hearing assessor who did not understand the issues faced by young deaf people in learning – which she has described well – was presuming to speak for these articulate and intelligent young people.
Too often the hearing presume they know best when it comes to teaching deaf students, and think they have a full understanding of the issues. They don’t. I’m sure with your academic experience you will also have come across too many hearing people who spout a great deal of pretended empathy while not being willing to be flexible.
DL
Hartmut
March 21, 2014
DL, since the assessor used the term “too English for the deaf”, I infer, he most likely is not outside the field of education of the deaf and comes from the old school of deaf education with its monolingual orientation (oralism). His training emphasizes using simplified English as the language of instruction, I was often criticized for not using simple English when I wrote on the blackboard what I explained in signs before to my deaf kids. I asked the critics to ask students what those lines on the board meant. They got a handful and shut up his oralist mouth.
Hartmut
ianhamilton
March 21, 2014
Quite simply, the point of accessibility is to take something and make it available to more people, through making reasonable accommodations, avoiding unnecessary barriers. The point is not to take something and change it into something else to suit a lowest common denominator. If you do that, you have made your original thing inaccessible to 100% of the audience. You cannot call that accessibility.
Emily Howlett (@EHowlett)
March 22, 2014
Thanks for all the great comments, guys. I do use the textbook English in slides, although my classroom language is probably just a smidge colloquial…! I am also currently waiting to hear back from the assessing body as regards my response to their comments (interestingly all of the comments were verbal and very little of the assessor’s views on the slides etc made it into the written report… – I wonder if she felt she was giving me some personal, friendly advice… Hmmm).
I am definitely a believer in avoiding the lowest common denominator – instead I like to let people help each other reach higher than they necessarily thought they could; I still hold the opinion that challenges are good for growth, as long as they are not insurmountable or resulting in low self-esteem.
And I am also a believer in always carrying spare dry clothes.