Creating a Multicultural School Climate for Deaf Children and Their Families
Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Barbara Gerner de Garcia, Michele Rovins
Designed for practitioners, this book provides guidelines to help build a multicultural learning environment for students with deafness and their families. Strategies are provided for developing cultural competence, and for improving home/school relationships and encouraging greater participation of families who are not part of the mainstream culture. Strategies that can help schools create more inclusive curricula and instructional approaches are also provided and include: (a) create a family atmosphere in the classroom; (b) integrate study of the languages, history, customs, and perspectives of different peoples throughout the curriculum; (c) approach the study of holidays and historic events from the perspectives of all the peoples involved; (d) utilize learner-centered rather than teacher-directed classroom approaches; (e) encourage students to use dialogue journals and other ways of sharing their experiences; (f) provide learning environments that are student-centered; (g) form planning groups of students and teachers to design thematic units that reflect issues and themes relevant to their lives; and (h) encourage family and community members to participate in every aspect of the instructional program. Recommendations are also provided for choosing materials and staff development. Suggested teacher materials and World Wide Web resources are included. (Contains 13 references.)
Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Barbara Gerner de Garcia, Michele Rovins. Creating a Multicultural School Climate for Deaf Children and Their Families (1997). Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center: Washington, DC.
(19 pages).
Language: English
Reading Level: Easy
Formats Available: Printed Material
(Call 202-651-5530 for further information)
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
800 Florida Avenue, NE
KDES Room 3400
Gallaudet University
Washington, DC
20002
Phone: (202) 651-5340
Fax: (202) 651-5708
Email: products.clerccenter@gallaudet.edu
URL: http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/
Languages Available: English
Intended User Audience:
The intended audience is all those involved in the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing or who come from families with deaf or hard of hearing members. The following groups are included: parents/family members, service delivery personnel, and teachers and administrators.
Product Development:
The material is written by three European American authors who are teacher trainers/teachers in the field of deaf/hard of hearing education.
Product Evaluation:
The material has not been formally evaluated or field tested.
Product Dissemination:
Three thousand copies of the material have been disseminated throughout the U.S.A.
Review #1
About the reviewer:
The reviewer has been in early childhood education for 29 years.
She began her work at a family day home, working with children 0 to 12
years old. She then opened a bilingual preschool where all children
were included. She was a teacher-director for the school. In the
last 15 years she has worked as a teacher-trainer and college
professor in a variety of settings: Head Start, home visitor programs,
public schools, and an advocate for all children's rights. She
has served as co-chair for NABE (National Association for Bilingual
Education), in the Early Childhood special interest group. She helps
coordinate National Institutes in collaboration with National Association
for the Education of Young Children. Currently she is an advanced
seminar instructor for Weeloch College, as well as adjunct faculty
at San Antonio College. She is National Bilingual Child Development
Associates representative and trainer. She has worked extensively
with migrant programs and has recent experience designing playgrounds
with a respectful eye to local needs and values. Most of her work
has been with culturally diverse populations - Hispanic, Native American,
African, etc. Her background includes a childhood in Mexico and
early medical (nursing) training. She has a master's degree from
St. Edward University, Austin, Texas.
Audience:
These materials are prepared for those involved in the education of children who are deaf/hard of hearing or who come from families with a deaf/hard of hearing member. Other users include but are not limited to the following:
· Parent/family members
· Service delivery personnel
· Teachers and administrators
· Interdisciplinary groups
· Early intervention/early childhood special education
· Early childhood teachers
· Multicultural specialist
· Bilingual/special education
Strengths of the Material:
This compact book is clearly presented in language that is easily understood by parents and early childhood professionals. There are itemized lists of guidelines for use in working in the classroom, with administrators and with community members and parents. There are also lists of references, books for teachers and books for students, and web sites where additional information regarding multicultural issues and deafness may be obtained. The authors mention some of the concerns that deaf students face when adjusting to the school's culture, the hearing culture at-large, and the students' own cultural background.
Limitations of the Material:
This is excellent material; the only concern would be that resources listed should include TTY access information. Also the text does not provide much information on variation in sign and gesturing that may be influenced by culture. This information would be helpful in the context of the goals of this book.
Adaptations:
None suggested. This is an excellent resource as it stands.
Generalizability:
Although this material is prepared for the deaf and hard of hearing population, it is relevant to all those who work with diverse Early Childhood population. It can be used with all Early Childhood Educators and for persons working with bilingual populations and multicultural populations. The reviewer will be securing a copy for use with her students when they talk about diversity and with her workshops and seminars.
Recommendations:
Recommend.
Producer's Response:
Not available at this time.
Review #2
About the reviewer:
The reviewer has been an administrator for several educational services,
including counseling services, outreach services, assessment services
and the elementary department of a midwestern deaf school. He also
has been an elementary and middle school classroom teacher at the
deaf school and a collaborative program in the northeast. He has
been the language assessment specialist on two multidisciplinary
assessment teams for deaf and hard of hearing children at Boston
Children's Hospital and the Indiana Deaf School. He received his
bachelor's degree in linguistics from Purdue University, his
master's in deaf education from Boston University, and has been
accepted into the Indiana University school administration Ed.D.
program. He has special interests in early intervention service
delivery, transitional services, and the evaluation process. As a
deaf man, a native user of American Sign Language, a teacher of the
deaf and an administrator in a deaf school, this reviewer is very
interested in educational and developmental services for deaf and
hard of hearing children.
Audience:
The material is written broadly for use by schools providing services to deaf/hard of hearing students and their families. It provides guidelines for schools to encourage multicultural families to become involved with their children's educational program. Also covered is how a school setting can become more sensitive to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse families.
The material was developed for parents or family members, service delivery personnel, teachers, and administrators who are involved with the education of deaf/hard of hearing children or children from families with deaf/hard of hearing members. The information would also be useful for early childhood and early childhood special education (EC/ECSE) personnel preparation professionals (family resource center trainers, Head Start trainers, faculty, administrators, and others). The material would be useful for any organization interested in learning about multicultural issues and how to improve school relationships with culturally and linguistically diverse families who have deaf/hard of hearing children. The material is written at an introductory and beginning level.
Strengths of the Material:
The strengths of this material are numerous. The purpose is clearly stated, and the material is easy to read. It is written concisely. The material is written in a manner that would be fairly accessible to family members with limited education. Technical jargon is either avoided or defined fully. The important points are bulleted, spaced clearly for ease of reading, and are short and to the point. The material comprehensively covers important information related to its primary focus of improving cross-cultural competence, outreach services, instructional approaches, choosing materials, and leadership issues. It outlines tools that professionals and families can use immediately. The language of the material acknowledges diversity. Readers will find tools for facilitating awareness of cultural diversity, addressing attitudes toward and knowledge of cultural diversity, and providing opportunities for exposure and experiences which develop skills in working with children and families from diverse populations. Also, the material provides tools for readers to increase their awareness of linguistic diversity, as well as how to address system-level issues by addressing an organization's values regarding cultural and linguistic diversity and an organization's policies and procedures related to cultural and linguistic diversity.
This material discusses the importance of instruction and participation by culturally and linguistically diverse groups in the program (school settings). It emphasizes awareness of the variety of methods used for conveying information that reflect different learning styles and communicative patterns.
Limitations of the Material:
The only limitation of this material would be the reader's ability and willingness to act according to suggestions provided. The material outlines suggestions for how schools can become sensitive to multicultural families and their needs.
Adaptations:
This material could be used for the purpose of training. It could be made into a checklist to be used in training in order to assess how far a school is in multicultural sensitivity and where a program stands. If some areas need to be addressed, trainers could facilitate discussion and let the participants create action plans to address those concerns. It is important to include families as participants and select facilitators whom families feel comfortable with, so that they are open to sharing truths that need to be heard and resolved at that level.
Generalizability:
This material is useable for any individual involved in educating children from multicultural backgrounds. It does not have to be restricted to those who have contact with deaf/hard of hearing students. The suggestions are very general and can be applied in any program.
Recommendations:
This material is highly recommended. In fact, there is a great need for more multicultural materials in the field of Deaf education similar to this. Awareness of multicultural issues in the Deaf community and in schools has become very important in the recent past, and this material fills a very important need.
Producer's Response:
Not available at this time.
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