Learning

Theme of the Week 2: What is one thing you would like to learn more about, but haven’t been able to?

Oh, so many things. As a teacher, I love learning in general, but I very rarely stop myself from doing research into anything I want to know more about. I spend a lot of time reading and researching for the pure joy of learning, my only regret being that I don’t have more time.

One topic I would like to learn more about is American Sign Language, ASL. I could learn some online, but as with learning any language, I feel that it has to be done with a native speaker or a professional. The local community college sometimes offers classes, but only during the school year in the middle of the day, which obviously does not match up with my work schedule as a teacher.

I have always been curious about ASL, but my interest really picked up at a state conference for teachers during the summer of 2016. I met a group of teachers from my state’s school for the deaf, and many of them had been students at that school when they were younger. I was at a work table with them for most of one day of sessions, and I noticed the other teachers at the conference didn’t really work with them. I personally saw no reason not to try.

There was one teacher with them who was not deaf, and she signed for the teachers who needed it, but I also noticed that all of the teachers read lips. So I worked with them, and it was wonderful. On my part, I had to speak slower than I usually would, and when they spoke I had to really listen closely as their pronunciation was not what I am used to, but we made it work and were able to get a lot done. At the end of the workday, the teachers told me they appreciated that I directed what I was saying to the individual teachers, not their co-teacher who was not deaf, and the teacher who could hear thanked me for speaking in regular tones and not raising my voice. I hadn’t even thought about it, I always look at the person I am speaking to as that is how I was raised, and there was no reason to raise my voice – it would not have done any good and would have been disrespectful.

I noticed that during breaks or other sessions, that most of the other teachers at the conference who could hear would direct whatever they were saying to the one member from the school for the deaf who could hear as well. They were not necessarily ignoring the other teachers who were deaf, but so many of them acted like the teachers who were deaf could not understand what was going on around them. That made me sad and frustrated. I can’t even imagine what it would be like, to essentially be ignored or discounted as a trained professional, an experienced teacher, simply because of not being able to hear. It is more frustrating to think that these teachers who were there to better themselves as professionals were seen by the majority as being “deaf” before they were seen as a “teacher.”

They were all lovely and amazing teachers, and it was a joy to work with them. But I also recognize that in their own lives they had learned so much and made a lot of accommodations to live in a world of those who had no hearing problems. I don’t know if I’ll even meet those particular teachers again, but I will probably meet other teachers from that school at other conferences in the future, an I would like to at least be able to communicate with them in a way to show them that I value them as professional peers.