Special Teacher Training in Saudi Arabia - Thesis Proposal Example

Special Teacher Training in Saudi Arabia Thesis Proposal: Preparing Deaf Teachers to Teach in Primary Schools for the Deaf in Saudi Arabia Introduction Until 1958, people with disabilities did not receive any special education provided by the government (Alquraini, 2011). Parents of children with disabilities were responsible for educating their children, in addition to any other special services their children needed. State provision of special education began in 1958 when a handful of blind students was enrolled in what were called "scientific institutes". Then in 1962, the government established the Department of Special Learning whose mandate was to improve the provision of special education to three categories of students with special needs: the deaf, the blind and the mentally retarded. In 1964, three institutes for blind students were opened in Mecca, Alhofouf and Aneaza. In 1972, the first institute for deaf and mentally retarded students was established. This paper is a thesis proposal. It gives an overview of the challenges involved in the training of primary school deaf teachers at Saudi Arabia universities. It also looks into the challenges deaf students face at Saudi Arabia universities. Finally, the paper highlights some of the best practices in deaf teacher training in the United States and how these may be replicated in Saudi Arabia. Challenges of Preparing Deaf Teachers at Saudi Arabia Universities Starting 1990, the government of Saudi began to incorporate deaf students into regular public schools following pressure from the public (Shaira, 2013). However, the move was not accompanied by measures to train teachers on how to handle deaf students alongside those without hearing impairments. This placed deaf students in public schools at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the normal learners. The author believes that the move was a good one. Secluding deaf learners in their schools as a form of discrimination. However, the Saudi government needs to review the curriculum for ordinary teacher training to incorporate the skills necessary for teachers to handle deaf students. Until recently, institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia did not admit deaf students because they lacked the facilities needed to support them. This scenario forced deaf students who wanted to pursue higher education after high school to seek opportunities abroad (Alomary, 2014). Another effect of the failure of Saudi colleges and universities to admit deaf students was that they (the deaf students) were locked out teaching deaf students at primary, secondary and higher education levels. Instead, the instruction of deaf students was left exclusively to hearing teachers. This situation has persisted despite research conducted elsewhere indicating that the instruction of deaf students is more effective if it is undertaken by deaf teachers (Roberson & Serwatka, 2000). Most of the regular teachers in Saudi Arabia are ill-equipped in sign language (Alomary, 2014). Many Saudis do not take sign language seriously. They believe that it is an easy language that one can learn overnight. As a result, there are very few sign language interpreters in the country. The Sadi Sign Language is yet to be recognized formally. Challenges deaf students Face at Saudi Arabia Universities Deaf students at Saudi Arabia universities face many challenges. Three are discussed here: high cost of hearing aids, uptake of assistive technologies and negative attitudes toward the use of hearing aids (Alodail, 2011). Hearing aids are gadgets that the deaf use to hear. These devices are necessary for the deaf to either hear or have sounds around them amplified. However, previous research has indicated that hearing aids are expensive for the average Saudi Arabia hearing impaired university student. Consequently, many researchers have suggested that the government of Saudi Arabia either subsidizes hearing aids or provide them free of charge. With respect to hearing impairment, assistive technologies refer to those devices that that help enhance the learning environment for deaf students. They can be either high-tech tools that are powered by electrical power all the time or they may be low-tech, not requiring electricity all the time. High-tech technologies include calculators and software for predicting word and recognizing speech. Low-tech devices include pencil grips and head pointers. Assistive technologies help students with hearing loss to learn effectively with other students in the classroom. However, research has revealed that the uptake of these technologies at Saudi Arabia universities is low. Many university students in Saudi Arabia have a negative attitude toward the use of hearing aids (Al-Jadid, 2013). These negative perceptions involve both the hearing impaired students themselves and their colleagues who have no hearing problems. Some students with hearing impairments will refuse to wear their hearing aid and put them away in their drawers. They do this for various reasons. For instance, there is a stigma associated with wearing hearing aids. Besides, some students will no wear their hearing aid because they do not believe their hearing problem is big enough to warrant such "drastic" a move. Still, others will not wear them because they are uncomfortable to use. Many students without hearing problems perceive the users of hearing aids with a lot of stigma. In addition, some question the effectiveness of hearing aids. The best way for the hearing impaired student to deal with the stigma is to convince oneself that they have a hearing problem and need the aids. Then what people think or say will matter less or will not matter at all. Deaf Teacher Training in the United States Education for the deaf in the United States date back to the early 1800s (Smith, 2010). The Cobbs School, an oral school, was the earliest deaf school to be established. The oral method only used speech. Later, the Connecticut asylum for the Deaf and Dumb was founded as a manual school. The closure of the Cobbs school in 1816 marked the end of the oral method of teaching the deaf. The manual method, also called the American Sign Language, became popular in schools for the deaf for the rest of the nineteenth century. Later in the century, the oral method replaced the manual method again. Two broad methods of teaching hearing impaired students have endured in America since the days of Cobbs School. These are the manual and oral methods (Erting, 1994). The manual method uses sign language as the mode of instruction while the oral method uses spoken language. Since the early days of deaf education, controversy has persisted as to which method is superior to the other in terms of effectiveness. However, many schools for the deaf try to integrate both methods. The National Association for the Deaf supports the combination of the approaches. In 2000, a study examined the preferences of secondary-level deaf and hard of hearing students for deaf versus hearing teachers (Roberson & Serwatka, 2000). Both categories of students indicated a stronger preference for deaf teachers. Still, deaf students indicated even stronger preference for deaf teachers than students with hearing difficulty. There exists at least one facility in the United States that trains deaf teachers of the deaf: the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). NTID is the world’s first and largest technical institute for learners that are deaf or have hearing difficulty (Gordon, 2007). NTID is one of the nine constituent colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), located in Rochester in New York State. NTID offers a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language (ASL) - English Interpretation. In addition, the institute offers a master’s degree in deaf education. NTID first admitted its students in 1968. In the beginning, its establishment caused much misunderstanding between deaf and hearing students on campus. Also, there was rivalry between RIT and NTID faculties. The rivalry centered on three things: the putting up of new facilities for NTID, the suspicion that NTID staff were paid higher salaries than their RIT counterparts and differences in communication between ASL and American English. When it first admitted students in 1968, NTID enrolled 600 students. As of 2013, NTID enrolled 1,432 students, representing about 8% of the total student population of RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), n.d.). Conclusion Unlike in the United States, the history of deaf education in Saudi is quite short, the first school for the deaf having been set up in 1972. This move was followed by mainstreaming several years later when the government first opened the doors of its schools to deaf students in 1990. Even though research has shown that deaf students are best taught by deaf teachers, deaf teacher training in Saudi Arabia is largely lacking. By contrast, in America, there is the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) that has existed since 1965.Clearly, Saudi Arabia has much to learn from the United States in this area. References Al-Hamli, A. S. (2008). Investigation of Special Education Teachers Attitudes Towards Education of Pupils with Special Needs in Riyadh City in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Honolulu: Masaryk University. Al-Humaid, H. (2013, July 5). Hamad Al-Humaid: My Educational Experience in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from Deaf Unity: http://deafunity.org/article-interview/hamad-al-humaid-my-educational-experience-in-saudi-arabia/ Al-Jadid, M. (2013). Disability in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 453-460. Alodail, A. K. (2011). Students Attitudes Toward the Use of Hearing Aids in Al-Ahsa,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ohio: Ohio Univessity. Alomary, B. (2014, June 20). Bader Alomary: Deaf Access in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved October 25, 2014, from http://deafunity.org/article-interview/bader-alomary-deaf-saudi-arabia/ Alquraini, T. (2011). Special Education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges, Perspectives and Future Possibilities. International Journal of Special Education, 149-159. Erting, C. (1994). The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the International Conference on Deaf Culture. Wahington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Gordon, D. (2007). Rochester Institute of Technology: Industrial Development and Educational Innovation in an American City, 1829–2006 (1st ed.). Henrietta: RIT Press. Roberson , L., & Serwatka, T. (2000). Student Perceptions and Instructional Effectiveness of Deaf and Hearing Teachers. American Annals of the Deaf, 145(3), 256-262. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). (n.d.). NTID at a Glance. Retrieved October 25, 2014, from http://www.ntid.rit.edu/about Shaira, M. (2013). Effects of Inclusion on Language Development in Hearing-Impaired Students in Jeddah Schools: Perspecties of Teachers and Parents. Life Science Journal, 2374-2383. Smith, C. (2010). Meeting the Challeges of Deaf Education Teacher Preparartion:Innovative Practices in Online Teaching. MERLOT Journal of Online Teaching and Learning, 523-532. State University. (2013, May 15). Hearing Impairement: Teaching Methods. Retrieved from State University: education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2038/Hearing-Impairment-TEACHING-METHODS.html Read More