Deaf Culture
Lexi Chitwood
Ed 201
Professor Opfer
9/13/13
Deaf Culture in Schools Deaf culture has always been fascinating but I never thought about how it would affect a student in class. The fact that diversity of ethnicity is very slim was something I never even thought about teacher diversity with special education students would be just as important overall. This article really sparked my interest in how culture helps to define the classroom as well as society. Only 14% of teachers of deaf students represent the minority races as well as being deaf. That number is shockingly low to me. Hopefully, since this article was written in 2010 that number has gone up a few percent. The author is trying to show how important it is to understand Deaf Culture as a teacher. There are multiple resources that the author gives but I feel as the most important resource is The Personal Culture Framework. This resource gives teachers and faculty and insight to what the deaf culture includes. This research is very relevant to the classroom because a student who feels as though they are understood will be more likely to participate and learn than a student who feels isolated and shunned. Without some of this information there would be disconnect between student and teacher. Teachers need to understand their students the best way they can, which includes deaf culture as well as ethnic diversity. If the teacher has a diverse classroom, this research will not only help how they teach but improve the classroom for the students as well. I really liked this article and the resources it gave me. I didn’t know too much about deaf culture and especially not what that has to do with the classroom setting. Currently, I’m taking a beginners sign language course so I thought I could blend the two areas together and learn a bit more. My eyes were open to how small of a group the rural deaf community is and how much the children have to struggle being understood in their classes. My only
Ed 201
Professor Opfer
9/13/13
Deaf Culture in Schools Deaf culture has always been fascinating but I never thought about how it would affect a student in class. The fact that diversity of ethnicity is very slim was something I never even thought about teacher diversity with special education students would be just as important overall. This article really sparked my interest in how culture helps to define the classroom as well as society. Only 14% of teachers of deaf students represent the minority races as well as being deaf. That number is shockingly low to me. Hopefully, since this article was written in 2010 that number has gone up a few percent. The author is trying to show how important it is to understand Deaf Culture as a teacher. There are multiple resources that the author gives but I feel as the most important resource is The Personal Culture Framework. This resource gives teachers and faculty and insight to what the deaf culture includes. This research is very relevant to the classroom because a student who feels as though they are understood will be more likely to participate and learn than a student who feels isolated and shunned. Without some of this information there would be disconnect between student and teacher. Teachers need to understand their students the best way they can, which includes deaf culture as well as ethnic diversity. If the teacher has a diverse classroom, this research will not only help how they teach but improve the classroom for the students as well. I really liked this article and the resources it gave me. I didn’t know too much about deaf culture and especially not what that has to do with the classroom setting. Currently, I’m taking a beginners sign language course so I thought I could blend the two areas together and learn a bit more. My eyes were open to how small of a group the rural deaf community is and how much the children have to struggle being understood in their classes. My only